Zambia Togo Result; Zambia got the result against Togo at Levy Mwanawsa Stadium in Ndola, but the performance left more questions than answers.
Albert Kangwanda’s wonder strike gave the Chipolopolo the early advantage, but what followed was a game in which Zambia often looked less like an established national side and more like a team still trying to learn each other’s movements, instincts and ideas.
The match itself was interrupted by a stadium power failure, with play halted in the first half before eventually resuming. Thirteen minutes were added to the first-half mark because of the stoppage, underlining just how disrupted the evening became.
There were also injuries to Miguel Chaiwa and David Simukonda, while Mathews Banda entered the referee’s book for a foul on Karim. Zambia were forced into several changes as the match progressed.
But beyond the interruptions, there was a familiar concern: Zambia won without much conviction.
The problem is bigger than one match.
Every time a new coach arrives, another rebuilding exercise seems to begin. New ideas. New combinations. New players finding their places. Then the coach leaves, another arrives, and the process starts again.
It becomes a never-ending loop of building, dismantling and rebuilding.
A national team should not constantly feel like a new team getting to know itself.
There was enough individual quality to get Zambia over the line against Togo, but cohesion, authority and a clear sense of identity were harder to see. The players appeared to be learning the team even as they were playing the match.
That is perhaps the most frustrating part.
Zambia can win games. The bigger question is whether Zambia can build a team.
Tonight brought the result, but not yet the conviction that something lasting is taking shape.
