Zambia captain Christopher Katongo said team did its best against Libya and did just enough to qualify to the Africa Cup finals.
Zambia and Libya finished scoreless at Nchanga Stadium in Chingola in the two sides crucial and final 2012 Africa Cup Group C decider.
“We know Zambians didn’t want a nil-nil result, they wanted the goals,” Katongo said in a post-match interview at Nchanga.
“We tried our best the goal was not forthcoming.
“I know Zambians wanted to see Zambia to go to the Africa Cup. That’s the most important thing. Today we tried our best am sorry to Zambia but we will are still going to represent Zambia at the Africa Cup of Nations.”
Zambia found the going difficult against a plucky Libya who defended with steel in the first half and came out of their shell in the second period to attack in stealth fashion in the second half.
Zambia’s major highlights in the match came firstly in the 39th minute when Libyan goalkeeper Samir Abodl in spectacular style denied strikers Collins Mbesuma and James Chamanga in quick succession.
Abodl was again on hand in the 45th minute to stop defender Nyambe Mulenga’s close-range shot before the first half came to a close.
In the 53rd minute, Chamanga amazingly blasted his close-range shot onto the post with Abodl nowhere in sight.
Not even the arrival of super sub Emmanuel Mayuka could conjure a goal and found Abodl and Libya’s defence in non-compromising mood.
why does
Mayuka come in as a substitute? This guy is a good attacker. He really knows where the goal is. Pliz make good use of him next time.
For the zambian people not the president ba chomba, such exaltation is what destroys our leaders.
Congrats boys and that is the good present for our president
Am told we did not play well. The nation is traumatised with the one-man leadership in Govt. Bonnette is actually not surviving the job as a Rupiah appointee. Listening to President Sata castigate Mbingu Wa Mutarika today, I concluded we need a lot of work at Plot One! There is total lack of diplomacy!Yes, Mbingu was used by RB to block Sata getting near Malawi and Taiwan. However, that reaction and the manner it was made when the Malawian HC visited SH is a serious lapse in international relations and diplomatic ettiquettes. No wonder we have produced an under-achieving team today!!
Lets leave politics aside TATA, dont worry u will be spared
not a win but adequate result to get us to afcon. congrats,
You did well ma boys !!!
Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here we come to lift the cup. 2012 is ours.
i watched nigeria to draw with guenea; with this in mind our guys needs a pat; tho bonet may not be the best.
great stuff………………u chaps……we love u..goals no goals..we have made it where others have failed..egypt, cameroun, nigeria, zimbabwe, uganda, the list is long.
Congrats boys!Lets hope we wont go to just make up numbers as usual. Gabon is an emotional place for Zambian football due to the Gabon crash.We should win the cup there ahead of the 20 th anniversary of the Gabon crash!I still miss Ucar’s team,its like yesterday!!GOD BLESS ZAMBIA.
Notice the correlation between the number of comments and the headline of the story.
Had this had even a hint of politics in it we would have seen 40+ comments.
Zambians we love out politics.
Well done Chipolopolo
The important thing is to qualify. What we need now is a proper road map of our training for the Africa cup. Summon up everything that counts in preparations, from finances to mental and physical well being. CONGRATULATIONS CHIPOLOPOLO.
The result is a manifestation of the involvement of former president RB who took passionately to the sport.
MCS must now add value to the team by camping them for a month abroad before the tournament starts.
Viva KK 11.
Well done guys,but next time we need see some goals.Congrats the Chipolopolo boys!
Now  lets win this one so Sata can see real victory!
Well done boys.. the Sata 11… by the way..Nigeria, Cameroun & Egypt are the bigs guns not making it to AFCON/….may be it Zed’s time to lift the troph…
congrats to the chipolopolo boys ….
By the way, despite the defeat in Chingola this afternoon, Libya are also through to the nations cup as Best runners-up. Good for them. I hope this will boast the moral and create hope for the future in the people of Libya after all they have gone through in the last few months.Â
draw not defeat you…
Asante saana, musebelize sesinde micaha!
@ middle income to rel income,
each time you go to the toilet you should be checking the colour of the stuff you leave behind.the momment you start leaving green just know that trouble is brewing.you will revert to lower income by april stupid *****.
Go boys and win the Africa Cup. It will be the icing on our fledgling but flourishing democracy cake
We are tops in democratic governance in Africa and beyond, we can also do it in football
Great news! Go all the way and win the big one in Gabon.
Congrats Chipolopolo boyz!you ve done pride.NO big names there now so we must start preparations just NOW.Tough lucky to big teamz who failed to quaulify.start preparation now,januaury z not far away but only less than 90 dayz.The early bird catches the worm….as baku Chipata says”kunya nimumawa”.
Its a goal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we paid fifty pin to watch goalless draw and O you guys can say ‘good boys’. yes i will agree with you ‘good boys for qualifying’. can i tell this guys….these boys could still have qualified with any coach in Zambia. at our home we have never given away a second half to visitors. that was not Zambia i was watching. even Power dynamos could have done the same today. the amount we are paying to Bonnet does not correspond the output. players where misplaced to say the least. all the wings were dead…how many crosses did Jacob cross…nil. misplacement. the guy was lost. we have the players but no good coach. we can do the same with a local coach. Zwaaaa bonnet and leave my tax money alone. in fact refund my 50 pin. Katongo yo best was not gud enough!!!!!!!!
I am still puzzled as to what the agrigate is 1st leg Libya 1-0 Zambia. 2nd leg Zambia 0-0 Libya
who is the winner??????????
simple maths that is been overlooked here. A lot needs to be done as in työ (work) here.
BAFANA BAFANA JUST JOINED THE CASUALTY LIST..well done niger for top the big boys and first time appearance
Zambia has 13 points against Libya’s 12. So on head to head Libya are better than Zambia, but that could have only applied if they finished with the same tally of points, which could have most likely left Zambia out of the nations cup, like South Africa are languishing with devastating disappointment right now. The SABC can’t even get that news item to say”SA ARE THROUGH” from their news website!Â
Remember the Nations Cup qualification system is somehow confusing, less straight forward! The teams that tops the groups will have automatic qualification and then they will also pick 2 best runners-up from all the groups combined of which Libya happens to be one of them. The most likely second best runners up will either go to Sudan or Morocco, but we will wait until Morocco plays tomorrow. Sudan were hammered at home by Ghana, 0-2. However, they are still by far among the best runners-up compared to the likes of SA, Nigeria, etc.Â
#22… Bafana have qualified.. draw with Se R leon at home unless by casuaty list u mean AFCON list…
 the outsider, an also happy for Niger. Its too much of the same names all the time at the nations cup. So this time, we won’t have Nigeria, Cameroon, Egypt and South Africa. And if look at the winners of the nations cup in the past 10-12 years, these 4 are the names. Now they are out, who will win, Ivory Coast, Ghana or Guinea? Will it be out time, Zambia, this time?Â
WELL DONE BOYS BUT THATS JST THE BEGINING OF EVERYTHING, U GAT A TOUHG AND LONG ROAD TO SATIFY EVERYONE. THIS TIME U WILL BE FACING THE LIKES OF GHANA THAT HAVEN’T HAD NO WAR IN THE COUNTRY AND U HAVE LESS THAN 90DAYS TO PREPARE. WISH YOU LUCK! AS WELL AS BONETTI I HOPE U DON’T LOSE UR JOB, THOU I WUD PREFER RENARD OVER YOU SRRY!
 PanAfricanist, Bafana Bafana are out: Read this extract from the BBC website who confirmed with CAF. Only Niger has qualified in that group. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/15229854.stm
South Africa joy in Nelspruit and around the country has turned to despair after the realisation that they cannot qualify as a best runner-up either.
Few would have predicted that Niger would qualify from Group G when the draw for the 2012 Nations Cup was made.
#22..my bad ..i was mislead bafana celebrations after the game… You rite ..bafana have failed in two staright attempts..including the Angola outing…like we say in umzansi..shap shap..lol
interesting how Libya new they have qualified because they celebrated just when the whistle was blown. anyway the Libyans have shown seriousness in these games. prior to this game they camped for three weeks to ensure they get a good result. what did we do. camp for a week largely because most players are foreign based. understandably so but some players only trained for two days and the played and looked lost. where was Clement Mulenga??? things are not working and the coaching staff only puts in fresh legs 10 minutes before the end..Kalu please ngolalyamo muli Bonnet twakana..mutamfye he has failed to deliver. like i said earlier any coach could have seen us through so why pay more??????
bullets
@ panafricanist how a terrible was the south african keeper khune? i’ve never see such acting on a football pitch he should get an oscar for his perfomance for time delaying i wish i could see his face when he found out they didn’t qualify i’m still laughing now”south africa team dancing on the pitch” …..so only botswana and zambia representing southern africa so far , hopefully angola will join usÂ
Angola has made it, a 2 nil away
Well done, but we need to work extra hard. I feel we have not reached that standard where we can say we will play well ku afcon. We still need a striker who is able to dribble and also fast. Mbesuma tries but he is not quick neither is he a fast player. Chamanga can play wel mu wing not 8/9/10. Next time we have to watch out. Cliford Mulenga, Chisamba Lunga, Shamapande,.. these are influencial player we might need to try, not same player every time. Our coach also, need to be sharp in identifying players who can play which number. Midfield, its was tool slow in feeding the up front. Am sure Kalaba with Chansa can handle it well. Good player like Christopher might need to be replaced with new stars. Thanks Â
I am not a dreamer but honestly speaking we can’t dream to win Afcon looking at our team. Wi failed to beat Libya that is another sign of our weakness. I know we have enough time to prepare for this but we need new faces.
well done Zambia though the battle has just begun. we expect more than todays’ result
The upcoming AFCON is one which we can easily..Imagine No cameroon, no Nigeria, No Egypt. These are the same guys who have whipped us out in the last 6 editions of the games.So now that they aint there, we have a chance and we will be seeded at No.1.Congrats boys
The broken English really annoys me!Â
And why do people use the sports forum to talk politics?
Its time to grow up people! WELL DONE BOYS!!!
This is a good result from a tricky fixture.
okay well done boys,but if tht was the teams best, hmm, the need to seriously improve, or else we won’t go far.
maintain the same crop of players if you need results next year.
good job chipolopolo guys.congrats………….
Mwabombeni baLumendo.
Zambia played disgustingly horrible to be honest!!! And libya was even worse!!!
We could have done better!
The passes were poor!! we kept loosing the ball!! No ball control!!! No pass and play tactics more like pass n lose the ball!! We were scared to shoot at goal only a few managed! tho libya were lucky for the posts n their keeper or it would have been 3nil!! We need alot of work to be done or we shall be coming back home once again empty!!! We need to build our confidence or there is no point of qualifying to afcon or any other competiton just to be a spectator!!!
well done Chipolopolo, Libya has been good when we play dem guys.
Cograts!!!! BA ZAMBIA
by the way i nearly forgot.
congratulations znbc crew, you reallyt made my day with your improved coverage.
i counted about five cameras. whats is the magic? sata at work heh.
i loved your replays. from 10% to 60% rate, not but. keep it up.
same old story