. Simukonda

By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
Zambia 1 Tunisia 2
FIGHTON Simukonda says Zambia will have to win the remaining two matches at the ongoing CAF Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Senegal to keep alive the hopes of qualifying to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
A late Haithem Jouini strike condemned Zambia to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of a determined Tunisia side in their Group A opening match played at Léopold Sédar Senghor Stadium in Dakar on Saturday night.
Simukonda, who blamed Zambia’s loss to his men’s profligacy upfront, said the team must now target picking up maximum points in the two matches to remain in contention.
“After losing to Tunisia, we have to go back to the drawing board and make sure that we win the two remaining games in order to stay in contention. We could have also carried the day.
“The game was 50-50 but Tunisia used their last chance and they scored. We had about two or three chances which we missed, that is part of the game,” Simukonda told CAFonline.
Hosts Senegal whacked South Africa 3-1 to top Group A with Tunisia in second place ahead of their meeting tomorrow at 20:00 hours as Zambia will take on South Africa at 17:00 hours in matches to be beamed live by SuperSport.
Zambia, who will be sweating on the recovery of strikers Ronald ‘Sate Sate’ Kampamba and Patrick Ngoma after picking up injuries, winds up group duties against Senegal on Friday.
Tunisia head coach Maher Kanzarib praised Zambia saying it was a good team that was difficult to beat.
“At the beginning it was difficult because the Zambian team is a good one. We tried hard to win and we hope to win the next game that will qualify us for the semi-finals. All matches are equal at a tournament,” Kanzarib said.
On the field of play, Jouini scored a brace to sink Zambia and inspire the Tunisians to a promising start at the tournament.
Jouini opened the scores in the fourth minute when he found the target from a free header off a pin point Ilyes Jelassi corner but Kampamba’s magic saw Zambia restore parity in the 15th minute.
Kampamba levelled matters with a classy long range effort when he lobbed the ball over Tunisia goalkeeper Sabri Ben Has, who was caught out of position before Jouini headed in another free header at the far post from Saad Bguir’s cross to seal victory for the Eagles in the 84th minute.
Zambia had a good chance to take the lead in the 40th minute through defender Kapota Kayawe whose effort from a free kick was dealt with by alert Hsa and two minutes later, Paul Katema got his effort on target as well but the goalkeeper was well-placed to make a good save.
Toaster Nsabata made a brilliant save to deny Tunisia’s danger man Jouini, who raced through the goal and looked likely to score.
Zambia went on to miss a flurry of chances in the last 15 minutes of the match through Spencer Sautu and Friday Samu as Tunisia had a goal by Edem Rjaibi ruled out for offside.