Zimbabwe Warriors beaten by Zambia

Zambia  2 - 0  Zimbabwe
ZIMBABWE will have to fight for another day to reclaim the bragging rights in the Battle of the Zambezi after falling to a Boniface Mwape brace in an international friendly at Nkoloma Stadium here yesterday.

The last time Zimbabwe came here in August 2012, they lost 2-1 and yesterday a lively Zambian outfit triumphed through Mwape's goals either side of break in the match held as part of the commemorations for the Gabonese air disaster that killed the entire Chipolopolo squad on 27 April, 1993.

And the match ended in a fitting tribute to the late Zambian football heroes as Mwape gave the hosts the lead in the 30th minute when he drilled the ball home from close range after the Zimbabwean defence failed to clear from a corner kick.

Roderick Kabwe whipped in a corner and Mwape scrambled past Maxwell Nyamupangendengu.

The Warriors had been forced to make a substitution a few minutes before the goal when left back Augustine Mbara pulled a hamstring and was replaced by Nicholas Guyo who failed to produce the same spark that he ignited when he earned his first cap.

In the first half, Zimbabwe were back-pedalling for most of the time as the Zambians threw everything at the visitors especially Alex Ndongo who plays for Nchanga Rangers. The lanky player was lively and caused anxious moments each time he gained possession as he could either attempt a crack at goal from the wings or take the Warriors defence head on.

Zimbabwe were lucky not to be penalised when Felix Chindungwe twice handled inside the box as he made desperate attempts to thwart the raids by Mwape but the referee ignored the pleas by the hosts for spot kicks.

The Warriors tried to build their attack with a short passing game from the back but were failing to open up further. In the end the Zambians stuffed the life out of the Warriors defence of  Chindungwe and Eric Chipeta. The duo were both making their debuts for Zimbabwe and lacked the composure as they were being questions by the Zambians.

With a little bit of adventure the Warriors could have pumped long balls upfront to strikers Nelson Maziwisa and Tawanda Nyamandwe who were drawing deep to search for the ball as the midfield failed to hit the right cords with skipper Masimba Mambare playing below par. The Zambia defence was playing flat and a through ball could have caused commotion but the Warriors stuck to the style of passing the ball from the back yet failing to carve open the Zambian defence.

In the second half, half the Warriors made sporadic attacks when Ronald Chitiyo came in while Last Chibwiro could have evened the scores when he did well to beat goalkeeper Rabson Muchelenganga but he lost balance and directed his effort wide.

Gangly Prosper Matizandzo could also have scored but directed his header wide and the Zambians again felt robbed when Chindungwe floored Mwape in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. However, the assistant referee's his flag was up for offside by the time Mwape beat the Chicken Inn skipper.

But Mwape killed any slim hopes the Warriors had to forcing a draw when he worked his way past Chindungwe on a counter raid and beat Liberty Chirava who had replaced Nyamupanedengu in goals in the 85th minute with a fine drive.

After the match, Warriors coach Klaus Dieter Pagels said his charges failed to gel because they only had two days of training before the match but he was confident that he was on the right track to identifying players for the future.