GRANT RUES MISSED CHANCES
…individual players made mistakes that cost us the game against Angola
By Cecilia Nayame
CHIPOLOPOLO Coach Avram Grant says his players made some costly mistakes that resulted in the team’s 1-2 loss to the Palancas Negras of Angola at the ongoing African Cup Nations (CHAN) tournament.
Angola stunned Zambia when they came from behind to win 1-2 in a thrilling encounter played at the Nyayo Stadium in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi on Sunday.
Substitute Joao Kaporal scoring a brace in the 61st and 86th minutes to seal victory for the Palancas Negras. This was after the Chipolopolo took the lead in the 73rd minute through a Dominic Chanda goal who tapped in from close range after capitalising on a defence error in the Angolan backline.
The latest results saw Kenya move to the summit Group A with seven points while Angola is second on four points.
Morocco, who earlier lost 0-2 to hosts in their third match are third in Group A with three points at par with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who are fourth but separated on goal difference while Zambia is at the bottom of the table without a point.
“The game we played today was much better than the first game [against DR Congo]. We created about six scoring chances as a result we only managed to score one,” Grant said.
He expressed concern that his players made costly errors that resulted in defeat for his side.
“The result today says a lot about the game because we were winning 1-0 but again a few individual mistakes cost us,” said the Israel born coach.
He said Zambia’s failure to utilise scoring chances was costly to his team in the game against Angola.
“This is football, when you miss so many chances, it costs you as a team. I think the chances that we missed also cost us,” Grant said.
He was, however, impressed with the players’ input despite the loss.
“They [players] played their best today. They applied and gave a lot of effort throughout the match. Our performance in the game against Angola was far much better than our first game…we improved in every area,” he said.
Grant said both players and the technical bench had learned from Sunday’s match and would improve in future games.
“They [players] were looking on both sides, there were a lot of good things that we can take from the game, otherwise, it was a good game,” he added.
Zambia will face Morocco in their third match on Thursday.
