Zambia opened their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group I qualifying campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Algeria in Tizi Ouzou on Friday night.
The Chipolopolo Boys conceded just one minute into the match when Jaouen Hadjam slotted home from a tight angle after catching Willard Mwanza off guard.
Zambia managed to contain their hosts for the remainder of the first half, which ended 1-0, with Algeria enjoying the majority of possession.
At the start of the second half, coach George Lwandamina replaced Patson Daka with David Simukonda. Eleven minutes later, Fashion Sakala received a long pass from Mathews Banda, dribbled past three Algerian defenders and scored his 12th international goal for Zambia on his 40th appearance to make it 1-1.
However, Ibrahim Maza, who was a thorn in Zambia’s flesh on the night, restored Algeria’s lead in the 67th minute, just 10 minutes after Zambia had equalised.
Lwandamina then made further changes, replacing Mathews Banda with Gamphani Lungu, Miguel Chaiwa with Owen Tembo, and Albert Kangwanda with Lameck Banda.
Algeria also made three changes, with Himad Abdelli coming on for Adem Zorgane, Adil Boulbina replacing Mohamed Amoura, and Anis Hadj Moussa taking the place of Mohamed Belloumi.
The changes proved decisive, as Moussa put the icing on the cake with Algeria’s third goal three minutes later.
Lwandamina brought on Chanka Zimba for Kingstone Mutandwa in the 77th minute in a bid to find more goals, but it was too little, too late.
Substitutes cost us – Lwandamina
Speaking after the match, Lwandamina admitted that it had been a tough game but bemoaned the impact of the substitutions he was forced to make.
“It was a tough match, and the boys played well away from home. It wasn’t easy for them, but they fought to the bitter end,” he told a press conference. “[We made] few mistakes, of course, and we were punished.”
“We had few injuries, and those affected us. We had to make changes which we wouldn’t have made, and that cost us the game.”
Zambia will host Togo on Tuesday next week, with the visitors coming into the match after defeating Burundi 1-0. The result leaves Togo second in Group I, level on three points with Algeria.
Lwandamina has declared the match a must-win encounter if Zambia are to keep their qualification hopes on track.
“We need to win home games. If we are to qualify, so Togo won’t have it easy,” he said.
“This is a young team, and they are coping up very well.
“We can actually change the tables, because they are fighting very hard, and I’m sure with a little bit of experience in the team, we’ll be able to bring them together.”
