We’re in for an all-East African affair when Zambia face Tanzania at the Laurent Pokou Stadium at AFCON 2023. Marc Strydom previews.
AFCON 2023
Match 22 – Zambia v Tanzania
Sunday 21 January | 19:00
On Sunday, Zambia will do battle with their East African neighbours Tanzania in the second match of the day. Chipolopolo coach Avram Grant will want to claim maximum points against the Taifa Stars after they conceded an equalizer and were forced to settle with a 1-1 draw with DR Congo.
To Win Match
Zambia 11/10 | Draw 18/10 | Tanzania 5/2
The opening game for Zambia did not go to plan against DR Congo – a 1-1 draw. Despite that, it ended up being a case of a point earned as their opponents levied a whopping 25 shots against them throughout their bout. Kings Kangwa put Chipolopolo ahead in the 23rd minute after some unconvincing defending from the Congolese. Frankie Musonda and Stoppila Sunzu had to deal with attack after attack and stood tall to earn Zambia a point in the end.
Zambia have adopted an exciting, attacking brand of football that their fans have fallen in love with. The likes of Patson Daka (who plies his trade for Leicester City), Kings Kangwa (who has already opened his account at AFCON) and Emmanual Banda (a brute midfield general) complement this style of play, which has worked wonders hitherto. During the AFCON qualifiers, only Nigeria (22) and Mali (15) found the back of the net more often than Zambia (12).
This fixture is absolutely crucial if they have any ambitions of making it to the knockout round of the tournament. Avram Grant has huge experience as a coach and would have planned for these situations. Staying calm and believing in what they can do will motivate Chipolopolo to play on the front foot and take the game to Tanzania. Taking control of the game and dictating play will be the call from Grant as this will give them more opportunities to get in on goal and put the Taifa Stars to the sword.
We can all agree that Tanzania are the “rookies” of this group as this is only their fourth AFCON appearance. They faced Africa’s best Morocco in their opening fixture and were dominated throughout the game with the final score being 3-0 to the Atlas Lions.
Tanzania have never progressed out of the group stages before and the loss to Morocco would have dampened the spirits, but there are some positives to take away from the defeat for coach Adel Amrouche. Tanzania are currently in last place in Group F and with not a huge amount of expectations on the shoulders of the Taifa Stars, this is just another opportunity for them to compete, grow as a team and do the nation proud.
The last time Tanzania met Zambia was in 2021 with Chipolopolo walking away as 2-0 winners. Adel Amrouche will need to analyse their game and come up with a plan that suits their style of play which could possibly cause problems for Zambia. Sticking together and playing as unit could be the perfect approach, as a more cohesive team is more likely to succeed.
Verdict: Zambia 11/10
Massive three points on the line for both nations and a win for either team will go a long way. I can’t see Tanzania causing Zambia enough trouble to claim all three points, but I do see Zambia having enough firepower upfront to pick up their first victory in Ivory Coast.
