Winless Zambia faces an early exit from the Under-20 Africa Cup in Egypt after succumbing to a 2-0 loss to Gambia in their second Group C match on Friday night.
A goal each by Kajally Drammeh and Alagie Saine condemned Zambia to the loss against the Gambians.
The Junior Chipolopolo launched the Junior AFCON campaign with a 1-1 draw against Benin last Tuesday.
Zambia remained stuck at the bottom on one point ahead of their must win final Group C match against Tunisia on Monday.
Gambia have since booked their place in the quarter-finals of the AFCON.
“We knew the Zambian defence is not good because we watched their game against Benin. Their weakness is their defence since yesterday we had a closer look at their game,” said Gambia coach Abdoulie Bojang.
Benin are second in Group C with two points followed by Tunisia on one point.
Semi-finalists at this competition will qualify to the Under-20 FIFA World Cup.
They are not convincing, I watched their game against Gambia. Zambian football teams (men, women, under twenties or full national teams) always struggle against taller, physically stronger opponents. This is not the fault of the UPND government but god who made us that way physically/structurally.