By SANDRA MWILA –
Pirates 1-3 Zambia

.Chipolopolo

ZAMBIA coach Wedson Nyirenda has described Zambia beating of South African glamour side Orlando Pirates as a morale booster ahead of their opening match at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament on Sunday.
Zambia plays Uganda in Marrakech Morocco on Sunday in the first of the three group games.
Zambia warmed up for that game against Pirates in South Africa after the initial international friendly match against Equatorial Guinea fell through.
Goals from Zesco United duo of Lazarous Kambole and Fackson Kapumbu and another from Power Dynamos striker Alex Ng’onga gave the Chipolopolo side the win.
Pirates scored through Mpho Makola to go to the half-time break at 1-1.
Nyirenda said the win raised confidence in the team and boosting the morale.
He said the result was not as important as the aim of the match was to help the technical bench assess the team’s attitude and approach to competition.
“A very good morale booster and brings more confidence to the team. The result was not so much of a factor going into this game. It is the team attitude and approach and reaction to two main moments of the game. That is defending and attacking,” Nyirenda said.
He expressed happiness with the ball movement.
“I think we kept our three lines intact and the flow was very good. Orlando Pirates gave us very good insight being a quick and good ball passing pro-side,” he said.
He, however, said the match exposed the team to a few weaknesses that needed to be addressed before facing Uganda.
The other teams in the group are Namibia and Ivory Coast.
The game also helped Ng’onga lessen the pressure on himself after receiving criticism from fans for his misses during the failed World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign.
Ng’onga scored the third goal in the 85th minute after coming on as a second half substitute, to head to Morocco with confidence.
Kambole put Chipolopolo ahead as early as the 13th minute but Makola equalised in the 22nd minute to go into the break level.
Kapumbu restored Zambia’s lead two minutes into second-half before Alex Ng’onga sealed the victory with a simple tap, five minutes from time.
The team later in the evening flew out to Morocco via the United Arab Emirates and will setup base in Marrakech where Group B will play its matches.