By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE  –
BESTON Chambeshi says he is disappointed that Nkana have been eliminated from the CAF 2014 Confederation Cup.
Chambeshi said in an interview from Abidjan yesterday that his dream was to win the competition and that he will not blame any player but the team should account for the loss collectively.
Nkana missed out on a historical semi-final spot after being thumped 3-0 in the final Group B match played at the Stade Augustine Denise in Abidjan. Sewe along with Al Ahly advanced to the semi finals.
“My mission was to win the Confederation Cup but Sewe ended that dream. I am disappointed but I will not blame any player as we lost as a team. Our focus now is to concentrate on defending our league title and I am confident we can do it,” Chambeshi said.
Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Kalusha Bwalya, in a separate interview from Johannesburg yesterday, said that there was need for the country to be proud of Nkana despite the exit.
Kalusha said playing for a place in the Confederation Cup semi-finals was always going to be an uphill battle for Nkana especially that the competition was a new territory for the players, officials and supporters.
“But we are happy with the resistance shown by Kalampa. The good football and results were a credit to them. They will build on it for better things to come in the future. Heads up,” Kalusha said.
FAZ treasurer Kelvin Mutafu, who is also delegation leader in Ivory Coast, said Nkana should blame themselves for gifting Sewe Sport the victory.
Mutafu said in an interview from Abidjan that Nkana gifted the Ivoirians a place in the semi-finals owing to their poor display.
He said Nkana’s exit from the competition should also act as a wake up to Zambians team to take advantage of home ties in continental championships.
“Nkana did not account for themselves the way they should have done and one could see that Sewe Sport dominated the game from the beginning to the end of the match. I would like to urge all Zambian teams to learn from Nkana’s elimination,” he said.
Mutafu said Zambian teams should draw lessons from Nkana’s elimination.
“We need to be picking up maximum points when playing at home, had Nkana won all their home games, this particular tie would have been a formality but I think Sewe did their homework,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sewe coach Rigo Gervias said he was happy with the result as his side capitalised on mistakes in the Nkana defence.
Nkana were scheduled to leave Ivory Coast last night and expected to arrive back home today.