Zambia’s struggles against non-African opponents continued as they suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat to Russia on Tuesday in Moscow, extending their winless run in such matches to 14 years.
Maksim Glushenkov opened the scoring just eight minutes into the match, capitalizing on a lapse in concentration from the Zambian defense.
Despite a few promising runs from Joseph Sabobo Banda in search of an equalizer, Russia doubled their lead in the 43rd minute when Ilia Vakhania found the net after Kabaso Chongo inadvertently redirected Danil Krugovoi’s cross.
The first half ended 2-0, with Zambia failing to register a single shot on target.
The second half was one-way traffic as Russia dominated possession, pinning Zambia deep into their own half.
In the 53rd minute, Glushenkov struck again from inside the box after being set up by Vakhania, making it 3-0. Just five minutes later, he completed his hat-trick, finishing off Andrei Mostovoi’s assist while Zambia’s defense and goalkeeper Toster Nsabata were caught ball-watching once again.
Russia wasn’t done yet. Substitute Aleksey Batrakov sealed the rout with a fifth goal after Zambia’s Gift Mpande failed to clear his lines.
It was a tough night for Zambia, who struggled to contain Russia’s relentless attacking display.
Zambia has not won a game against a non-African opponent in the last 14 years. The Chipolopolo’s last victory over a team outside of Africa came in 2011, when they defeated India 5-0.
Reacting after the match, Avram Grant said, “Congratulations to Russia on their victory; they played well! I don’t want to make excuses, but we only had one good training session and were missing several players due to technical issues. For us, this match was a valuable opportunity to test ourselves, and we gained important experience. I would also like to thank the RFU for their hospitality.”
When asked about the lessons learned from the match, he responded, “I think we learned a lot. We had many new players, and they had the chance to play together against strong opponents. Our first training session was only on March 23, despite my request to arrive on March 17. This wasn’t enough preparation for a match against a strong team like Russia, which should definitely be competing in official tournaments. I believe that with a few more training sessions, the result could have been very different.”
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