Desperate Zambia will be tough for Eagles –Lumumba

Category: Sports Published on Friday, 25 January 2013 06:00 Written by David Ngobua

Former NFF presidential aspirant, Hon. Lumumba Dah Adeh has said Super Eagles should expect a very difficult match this evening when they take on the Chipolopolo of Zambia at the Mbombela stadium Nelspruit.

The defending champions played a 1-1 draw against 10-man Ethiopia in their opening match of the 2013 AFCON and are desperate to return to winning ways in order to justify their pre-tournament rating.

Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday, the former House of Representatives member said having failed to pick the maximum points against Ethiopia, the Zambians will throw everything into today’s match.

Lumumba said going by the lack of confidence which most of the Eagles displayed in the match against Burkina Faso on Monday, nobody can confidently say what would happen when they come up against the Chipolopolo this evening.

He said “I want to say that against Burkina Faso, most of the Eagles who are debuting at the Africa Cup of Nations displayed lack of confidence. The stage appeared too big for most of them.

“The Eagles failed to make good use of the initial fear that gripped the Burkinables because they were up against the Eagles. The Eagles showed lack of confidence and their opponents took over the match from them.

“At the risk of sounding like a pessimist, let me say Zambians will be difficult because they are desperate to make amends. It is not going to be an easy one but if the Eagles can put their acts together, they can beat Zambia.”

Lumumba also said Eagles must change the false belief that they are big boys and should be allowed to do whatever they want to do with the ball.

“I recommend change in attitude for the players. Most of them feel they are big boys and others should watch them play with the ball. This is not possible. Other players are hungry for glory and cannot allow them”, he noted.