Mali take on the host as Guinea to beat the Pharoahs

UNDER 20 AFCON
GAME TWO – GROUP A

MY VIEW

Zambia Vs Mali
Heroes Stadium
18:00hrs

Zambia will engage Mali at the Heroes Stadium tomorrow evening in search of a place in the semi finals and potentially an automatic ticket to represent Africa at the junior World Cup slated for South Korea later in the year. And Mali who together with the host national Zambia has been carrying tag of the teams to beat will be looking for their first win at this tournament after a nil all draw with the young Pharaohs of Egypt.

Zambia tends to imbibe deeply about competitions that pit them against West African teams and a date with a very good Mali side is about as big as it gets.

However, its my strongest opinion that Beston Chambeshi’s boys will have to be careful not to engage too heavily in the ‘individualistic’ style of play they exhibited on sunday in the first half against a subtle Guinea.

Its understandable that young Chipolopolo boys could have been overwhelmed by the boisterous crowd that thronged the Heroes Stadium on Sunday. And tried to impress. And by any measure they probably played to their biggest crowds in their football careers.

They ought not to make to mistake. Giving the fans win in the first match would without doubt spur the fans more. It could even be more daunting in terms of the noise.

The belief is excitedly there and if anybody needs to be blamed its the boys themselves. They did the nation proud.

“Mali you are next ,” the fans sang as they watched their team defeat Guinea in the first game.

But Mali will not be easily intimidated by the fans and after what I saw in their game against Egypt , this encounter is well poised and Zambia should be careful to avoid defeat in this encounter. Once again I implore the fans to make the noise. We have a certain raiser in the form of Guinea against Egypt to stimulate ourselves before our boys take to the turf.

Mali played with one striker on Sunday but they were not effective and its possible that the coach will ring changes in that formation against Zambia.

We have to be mindful that the pitch was now slipperly and was not too helpful to Egypt and Mali and we may see a different ball game altogether on Wednesday.

I think Beston will pick the same team in the same shape for the Mali game. The Malians are by far a better accomplished team that Zambia will face in this group phase. Of course that is on paper. They boast to have the best players in the groups, of course Zambians will think of Enock Mwepu a germ in the making undoubtedly being given the tag as the next best thing in engine room for the Chipolopolo boys but that Mali team has excellent players.

Mali played in a 4-5 -1 formation and my thought was to have control of the midfield in the slipperly stadium.

Its good that Zambia had maximun points in the usually cagey opening match of any major tournament. And Mali with a single point will be overly ambitious to get the three points. That could expose them to sucker punches from the inform Zambian youngsters in Patson Daka, Fashion Sakala, Enock Mwepu and Conlyde Luchanga who had an indefferent first half on Sunday leading to his withdrawal by the coach.

It promises to be a breath taking and absorbing encounter at the Heroes Stadium, as the two standout teams in the tournament meet from what I have observed so far.. For fans and commentators, a big narrative will loom large and over in this match.

The players however, must not become absorbed by it. There is already huge pressure on the team as they bid to win the group and remain in Lusaka for the semi finals.

The pressure was too much on the Zambian team in the first game and that made the team play panicking in the first half. I don’t know about you but the first game of Zambia didn’t convince me and for Mali is the better team coming into this fixture. The likelihood of a winner is actually Mali but that support I saw from Zambians may again be crucial in the encounter.

Mali team is disciplined and they can make Heores stadium quiet. Prediction is tricky but am not seeing Mali losing this game neither is Zambia losing this one. With that said these teams may must play to a draw.

My Verdict: Zambia 2-2 Mali
************************
Egypt Vs Guinea
Heroes Stadium
15:00
Another cagey encounter. The usually speedy Egyptians pitted against the overly cautious Guinea side looking to extend their record of Under20 Afcon titles looked more organised in a slipperly pitch against Mali. But again the condition of the weather will have a say on this encounter. We hope to see how Guinea will unshackle that defeat against Zambia. A loss against Egypt might as well pack the bags and keep them in the departure lounge as they wait for final dead rubber against Mali on Saturday.

I think Egypt will win this one but Guinea will score .

My Verdict: Egypt 2-1 Mali
**************************