| |  Zambia Home Page | | | | Zambia stun Bafana Bafana for Ghana 2008 |  Zambia pulled off a shock 3-1 win over South Africa in Cape Town to qualify for the Nations Cup as winners of Group Eleven.
South Africa's fate will depend on other results, but they have a strong chance of taking one of the best runners-up spots due to their healthy goal difference.
The group was decided on the head-to-head record between the two teams, and South Africa had won 1-0 away to Zambia.
Chris Katongo scored a hat-trick, netting in the ninth, 19th and 20th minutes.
Defensive errors from South African were factors in the first two goals.
On his Bafana Bafana return, Benni McCarthy pulled one back in the 50th minute, and Delron Buckley hit the post a minute later.
But South Africa needed two more goals to qualify, and the outcome is a worry for the 2010 World Cup hosts.
In N'Djamena, Chad needed a 90th minute goal to draw 1-1 with Congo.
Toussaint Mayimbi put Congo ahead after six minutes, with the equaliser coming from Leger Mbaiguidim.
Chad ended the campaign with two draws and four defeats, while Congo's seven points left them four adrift of Zambia and South Africa.
SOURCE: BBC Sport | | Zambia mourns Nsofwa |  The Football Association of Zambia (Faz) has expressed shock at the death of striker Chaswe Nsofwa in Israel.
Nsofwa died in an Israeli hospital on Wednesday minutes after collapsing during a training session with his second division side Hapoel Beersheba.
It is still uknown why Nsofwa collapsed.
Faz president, Teddy Mulonga, told BBC Sport that he is still trying to come to terms with the shocking news.
"He may have had his own up-and-downs as a player but this is the guy who scored one of the goals in the Cosafa final last year when we beat Angola 2-0," he said.
"Chaswe was one of the great prospects at the 1999 Under-20 World Cup and was a great talent. I am sad, absolutely sad."
Zambia's care-taker trainer Patrick Phiri, who coached Nsofwa in the Under-20 team in 1999, said the death was a blow to the country's football.
He added that he had been considering Nsofwa for next month's must-win African Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa.
"My plans for the South Africa match have been dealt a big blow," he said.
"It's very painful that the cruel hand of death has robbed us of such a talent.
"This is a great blow not only to his family but the whole nation."
As well as starring for Zambia in 1999 during the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Nigeria, he was also part of the Zambia squad at the 2002 African Cup of Nations in Mali.
He played for Zambian champions Zanaco before spells in Russia and Malaysia.
SOURCE: BBC Sport | | Zambia, Nigeria clinch WYC spots |  Zambia and Nigeria qualified for June's Fifa U-20 World Cup after reaching the semi-finals of the African Youth Championship in Congo on Saturday.
A brace by Clifford Mulenga helped Zambia to defeat Egypt 3-0 and earned them the top spot of Group B with six points.
Despite losing 2-0 to Cameroon, Nigeria clinched the group's other semi final ticket thanks to a better goal advantage over Egypt, who also have four points.
Zambia will make their second appearance at the Fifa finals because any team reaching the semi-finals of the African Youth Championship automatically qualify for June's event in Canada.
The southern Africans will play Congo in Tuesday's semi-final while the Flying Eagles play Group A winners Gambia. SEMI FINAL MATCHES
TUESDAY: Zambia v Congo
TUESDAY: Gambia v Nigeria
Zambia came into Saturday's game determined to clinch a place in the last four and were 2-0 up by the interval with goals from Sweden-based Mulenga and Tembo Fwaya.
Mulenga sealed the win with a close range strike late in the game.
Cameroon earned their first points of the tournament after their victory over Nigeria.
First-half goals by Max Pen and Benjamin Moukanjo secured the win over the Flying Eagles.
SOURCE: BBC Sport | | Zambia shock Angola to win Cosafa Cup |  Chaswe Nsofwa created a goal and scored the other as Zambia shocked Angola 2-0 in the Cosafa Cup final on Saturday.
Embattled coach Patrick Phiri introduced the experienced Malaysia-based striker late in the first half for ineffective Zachariah Simukonda, who also plays his club football in the Asian country.
And the move paid rich dividends in the closing stages of the match as Nsofwa set up Dube Phiri for the opening goal after 75 minutes before adding a second 60 seconds from full-time.
It was a record-equalling third success for Chipolopolo in southern Africa's annual competition.
Angola and Zimbabwe have also triumphed three times and South Africa once since its introduction 10 years ago.
Angola, unbeaten in five matches since a narrow loss to Portugal at the World Cup in Germany last June, were favoured although coach Luis Oliviera Goncalves was restricted to local players.
His sizeable contingent of Europe-based stars, including midfielder and captain Paulo Figueiredo, were not released by their clubs because the final did not fall on an official date for international fixtures.
Zambia fared better with Phiri bringing home Nsofwa, Simukonda, several South Africa-based players and veteran defender Elijah Tana, a recent addition to the foreign contingent in the United Arab Emirates.
Tana, sorely missed when Zambia lost at home to South Africa in an African Nations Cup qualifier this month, has featured in five Castle Cup finals and collected three winners' medals.
Zambia won the inaugural edition in 1997, retained the title one year later, and lost to Angola and Zimbabwe in the last two editions of a competition bankrolled by a Johannesburg-based brewery.
The white-kitted Zambians were unrecognisable from the team that surrendered meekly to South Africa, laying siege to the Angolan goalmouth in the early stages before a disappointingly small crowd at Independence Stadium.
Goalkeeper Lama, who has replaced Joao Ricardo as first choice since the World Cup, repeatedly rescued the Palancas Negras as Zambia captain Chris Katongo created havoc with his pace down the right flank.
Lama made a brilliant reflex save from Chris Katongo after six minutes and stopped a low shot by the same player barely a minute later as lively Zambia established an iron grip on midfield.
Phiri should have done better with a far-post chance before Tana drew wild cheers from the largely Zambian crowd with deft defensive work to clear a rare Angolan attack.
It was all Zambia and Felix Katongo, a younger brother of the skipper, dribbled past four opponents only to fire timidly wide to the annoyance of spectators longing for a goal.
Simukonda squandered a great opportunity to break the deadlock and Tana did well at the other end as giant Angolan striker Love cut in and threatened to give his country an undeserved lead.
Love blazed wide when well positioned in the second half before Phiri broke the stalemate by sneaking between two defenders and heading a Nsofwa cross wide of Lama on a partly cloudy afternoon.
The fate of strangely lethargic Angola was sealed when they were caught napping by a sudden counterattack and Nsofwa had plenty of time to tee up a close-range drive that flew into the net.
SOURCE: BBC Sport |
| | | | Men's Olympic Football Tournament Zambia lead Africa's Olympic charge |  A week that started in disappointment ended in triumph for the promising Zambian player Given Singulama as he ensured a major boost for his international profile.
Singuluma had been one of a handful of players dropped from Zambia's national squad ahead of the vital CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa, with the axe falling despite the fact he had scored in the Zambians' semi-final triumph over Botswana at the Cosafa Castle Cup in August.
Nevertheless, instead of heading home, Singuluma accepted the invitation to transfer immediately to the Zambian Olympic side, who, like their senior counterparts, had an important home fixture to fulfil at the weekend. In the case of the U-23 team, it was a one-off Olympic Football Tournament qualification match against Djibouti, who had waived their right to a home leg due to the lack of an appropriate stadium in which to host the match.
Singuluma certainly thrived at Lusaka's Nkhoma stadium, firing home a hat-trick as Zambia racked up double figures in a 10-0 win that secures a place in the second round of African qualifiers for Beijing 2008 alongside the likes of Egypt, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa.
Africa has three places at the tournament in China and will decide its final representatives after an exhaustive group stage, with these early preliminary rounds aimed at narrowing down the field.
Elsewhere, Egypt brought back several of their young European-based stars for the second leg of their tie against the Gambia in Alexandria after drawing the first leg. Greek-based Ahmed Magdi scored and there was a solid contribution from Genclerbirligi's Sumgayit Ghanem, although Gambia's cause was not helped by the 28th-minute dismissal of Osman Koly for a dangerous tackle.
Preparations pay off for South Africa
South Africa, who famously defeated Brazil at the Sydney Olympics six years ago, have invested time, effort and money in their efforts to qualify for the Beijing Games, with their extensive preparations including warm-up matches in north and west Africa and a trip to Indonesia. These efforts are considered all the more important as many the country's Olympic hopefuls are seen as candidates for the senior side at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals, which the country will of course be hosting.
However, the South Africans had to battle to scrape past neighbours Namibia in the second leg of their first round tie on Sunday. South Africa's U-23 side, nicknamed Amagluglug, held a narrow 1-0 lead from the first leg and were expecting a tough tussle with the Namibians, who equalised the aggregate score through Rudi Louw just after half-time. It was, though, a lead that lasted just three minutes before striker Lerato Chabangu scored to ensure South Africa's progress by a narrowest of aggregate scorelines.
Rwanda, meanwhile, came storming back from a 1-2 first leg deficit to beat Sierra Leone 3-0 in Kigali and take their place in the second round. The Rwandans were two goals ahead inside the opening half-hour, with Eric Yirinkwandi and Aphrodise Hategkimana both scoring, and the victory was completed 15 minutes into the second half with a goal by Jean Claude Muhimana.
As for Mozambique, they needed penalties to overcome Libya after a 1-1 aggregate draw, triumphing 5-3 on spot-kicks after losing the second leg 1-0.
SOURCE: FIFA.com
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