Bonetti era begins

ZAMBIA launch the campaign for the 2012 Gabon/Equatorial Guinea Africa Cup of Nations finals when they take on rank outsiders Comoros Islands at Lusaka’s Nkoloma Stadium today.

The Chipolopolo thoroughbreds are poised to open the hunt for the place at the Africa Cup finals on a positive note considering that Comoros are soccer under-weights with little traceable record since the birth of modern football.

While Zambia have been participating in this competition from the 1974, Comoros, sandwiched by Palestine and Somalia in FIFA ranking, only joined the race in 2008 when they were vying for the 2010 edition. Even that was a flop they would not want to remember following the 2-10 mauling at the hands of Madagascar.

Ranked 172 against Zambia’s 73 in the world, Comoros are certainly not up to mark for the journey to Gabon and may just fall on the wayside.

But football being what it is, anything is possible and the Islanders may just cause an upset and spoil new Chipolopolo trainer Dario Bonetti’s anticipated good start to his new job.

Bonetti, who replaced charismatic Herve Renard, is open to reality and has ruled out any possibility of underrating Comoros despite the feeble status they have been given in world football.

“There are no small teams in football anymore and we will play them (Comoros) like we are playing Brazil. We don’t know anything about Comoros but winning is a must because we want to have a good start to the Africa Cup qualifiers,” said the soft-spoken Italian.

While Zambia consist mostly of foreign-based players, Comoros have come with only local players and their technical advisor Jean Paul Rossignol is heaping his hope for a draw or a win on the fact that football is like a dice and results can go either way.
[pullquote]“There are no small teams in football anymore and we will play them (Comoros) like we are playing Brazil. We don’t know anything about Comoros but winning is a must because we want to have a good start to the Africa Cup qualifiers,” said the soft-spoken Italian.[/pullquote]

“We started football recently. We are a new nation in football and it will not be easy for us to beat Zambia which is a strong soccer nation,” Rossignol said on arrival at the Lusaka International Airport on Thursday.

In his analysis of Group C, Rossignol rated Zambia as the best team followed by Libya whose style of play he likened to that of Egypt, and then he put Mozambique in third and his own Comoros last.

Going by Rossignol’s ratings, one would think that the Islanders have already conceded defeat and they are here to merely fulfil the fixture.

However, Bonetti and his boys should be careful because Rossignol could just be employing mind games to force Zambia into becoming complacent believing that they are playing a frail team.

In fact, Rossignol’s views are in sharp contrast with his coach Manuel Amoros who believes Comoros are here to get three points.

“We are not intimidated playing big names like Zambia. We are coming to play football and if all goes well, we will get three points,” Amoros said.

But Amoros will surely need an above average strike force to penetrate the Zambian defence of Chintu Kampamba, Joseph Musonda, Stoppila Sunzu and Emmanuel Mbola who will be shielding goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene.

The Zambian defence should be wary of Mouigni Mohamed, Daoud Mzitrani and Nourdine Midtadi, who are likely to be deployed upfront to search for goals.

Zambia’s most entertaining football will be played in the midfield where Bonetti will field skipper Christopher Katongo, Rainford Kalaba, Isaac Chansa and Felix Katongo but they will meet opposition from Mohamed Mahamoud and Moindje Ali Moilim.

The Comoros defenders Djabir Issouf, Izzidine Mohamed Zainoudine and Kassim Abdallah will be the busiest men on the pitch as they will need to work overtime to contain thirsty Zambian strikers.

Switzerland-based striker Emmanuel Mayuka is likely to partner James Chamanga in a two-man pronged attack. Fwayo Tembo, who has been a regular at Swiss champions Basel is also a potential starter in this game Zambia are expected to have a deluge of goals.

It may be important to remember though that Comoros are not the worst ranked team Zambia have ever played. They have failed to beat Seychelles in Lusaka (2003) and lost to Djibouti last year.
[Zambia Daily Mail ]