ZAMBIA ON THE VERGE OF THIRD CONSECUTIVE AFCON MISS AFTER LOSING TO BOTSWANA
CHIPOLOPOLO on Monday night return to very familiar territory following a disappointing display and away loss in Botswana in Francistown.
Botswana beat Zambia 1-0 to reclaim third place and send Chipolopolo back to their now customary bottom seat in Group H in the 2022 AFCON qualifiers.
Mosha Gaolaolwe turned in a cross in the 4th minute to avenge Botswana’s 2-1 first leg loss in Lusaka on November 12 and give The Zebras hope of chasing for a top two finish.
Zambia should also thank the post in the 38th minute when Kabelo Seakanyeng hit the woodwork following a breakthrough run from midway inside Chipolopolo’s area.
But Zambia remained untidy in the second half where showed very little quality in their finish.
The major highlight was Fashion Sakala’s 86th minute header from a Kelvin Mubanga throw-in that scraped the beam before the referee generously added five minutes of extra-time.
It is now a mountain to climb for Zambia in their last two games. They host unbeaten Algeria in their penultimate Group H match on March 23, 2021. Then, Zambia will make what will hopefully not be a formality trip to Harare on March 30.
Meanwhile, Algeria and Zimbabwe drew 2-2 in the early Monday Group H kickoff in Harare. Algeria who have now qualified are top on 10 points while Zimbabwe has 5 points. Botswana has 4 points while Zambia has a solitary 3 points after their third loss from four Group H games.
The last time Zambia were at Afcon was in 2015. They failed to qualify for 2017 and 2019 editions.