Chipolopolo captain Lubambo Musonda has conceded that Zambia were caught by surprise in their 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Wednesday night’s group F opener.
Things did not go according to plan for Chipolopolo, as they were outperformed by a wasteful Congo side.
It wasn’t easy to pick out any positives from the game, save for veteran Stoppila Sunzu and his partner Frankie Musonda’s performance.
The Zambian skipper said the team was caught napping.
“Yeah, we did not expect them to be so explosive in the game,” he said. “They really worked, prepared well, and showed a good game today [Wednesday].
“We wanted to play compact; we defend as a team; we attack as a team; that’s what we wanted. It was a difficult match. We tried to play compact; we tried to play on a counterattack, but I guess they were prepared for us too,” Musonda added.
He assured that Zambia will address the weaknesses in training to avoid a repeat when they meet Tanzania.
“We will work on our weaknesses in the next game and we will see if we can get the result. We will prepare so that we are ready for the next game,” he said.
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Zambia will take on Tanzania on Sunday in their second match at the finals.
The Chipolopolo, along with DR Congo, trail group leaders Morocco by a point each.
DR Congo will clash with the Atlas Lions, who thumped Tanzania 3-0 in their opening match.