Defiant Chambeshi hopeful despite dimming Qatar hopes

Beston Chambeshi

Friday Oct 08, 2021. 12:00

Chipolopolo coach Beston Chambeshi remains ambitious about Zambia’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying hopes despite Tunisia closing-in on cementing pole position in Group B.

Ten-man Chipolopolo lost 2-0 away to Equatorial Guinea on October 7 in Malabo to suffer their second successive Group B defeat and now trail six points behind leaders Tunisia with three matches to go.

Tunisia on the other hand beat winless Mauritania 3-0 at home in Rades late on Thursday night to maintain their one hundred percent start and closer to clinching the lone Group B spot that would see them advance to the final knockout qualifying round.

An away win in Nouakchott this Sunday for Tunisia will put Zambia out of the equation in Group B.

Thursday’s defeat in Malabo also saw Chipolopolo suffer back-to-back Group B defeats after Tunisia beat them 2-0 at home in Ndola September 7.

“The whole team is not happy about the two losses especially the second one against Equatorial Guinea because our game plan was to pick up maximum points in this game. Unfortunately we lost,” Chambeshi said.

“At least we have hope in our remaining three games so we are looking forward to Sunday’s game.”

Chipolopolo hosts Equatorial Guinea in the final leg of their Group B doubleheader on October 10 in Lusaka.

“We will try to motivate the players so that we forget about the Equatorial Guinea game and make sure we win Sunday’s game so that we are back on track. We have to make sure that we remain in the World Cup qualifying race,” Chambeshi said.

With three games left, Chipolopolo are third on 3 points, second placed Equatorial Guinea have 6 points and Tunisia lead on 9 points.

Victory for Tunisia against bottom placed Mauritania who have zero points will take them to 12 points, an unassailable threshold for Chipolopolo with two games to go after this weekend’s match-day-four fixtures.

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