How we lost to Eagles —Nyirenda, Zambia coach

Zambia coach, Wedson Nyirenda has blamed carelessness back in the defence for a 1-2 home loss against Nigeria in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.

The Chipolopolo lost their first-ever game at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola after they gifted Nigeria two first half goals and a spirited fight-back after the interval proved too little, too late for them.

“We have lost three points at home and this is not very good for us, but football being what it is can go either way when you are careless. That is the lesson we have learnt,” said a disappointed Nyirenda.

“We were so careless at the back in the first half and we did not press them, we gave them a lot of room and if you are playing against a team like Nigeria with good stars in the team, they will punish you.”

However, the Zambia caretaker coach insisted they are far from out of running for a place at Russia 2018 despite this early setback.

“Going forward, we still have 15 points to fight for, which we will fight for. You will need about 10 points to qualify for the World Cup, so we still have a chance,” he said.

“We are in a rebuilding phase, we are building a new team and at the same time we want to qualify for the World Cup, so Zambians have to be patient as we have new players who are trying to integrate with the old players.”