Zambian coach lauds team character

Zambia head coach George Lwandamina on Wednesday commended the character of his players following good performances against Kenya and Gabon.

The Chipolopolo beat Kenya 2-1 away in Nairobi in a 2017 Gabon Africa Cup of Nations soccer qualifier and later drew 1-1 with Gabon on Tuesday night during a friendly match at Lusaka's National Heroes Stadium.

"In Kenya if you saw the strategy employed by our opponents, they used long balls and my boys retreated because they did not leave any spaces behind. They sealed all spaces to avoid giving chances to our opponents and that worked in our favor," Lwandamina said, according to a statement posted on the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) website.

The Zambian trainer acknowledged that Gabon gave his team a good run but praised the team for its resolute in defense, adding that his charges could have done much better if the team did not play two games in a period of two days which worked against them.

"Playing two games in 48 hours was not easy for them and I had to make several changes in the second half to avoid muscle cramps," he added.

He however said the friendly match against Gabon was a good platform to expose young players to international football.

Zambia scored first in the 21st minute when skipper Rainford Kalaba scored but the Gabonese resilience paid off in the 78th minute when goalkeeper Bitseki Moto scored from the spot kick. Endi