Chipolopolo of Zambia captain Rainford Kalaba has said his team will
have to redeem themselves after falling 2-1 at home to Nigeria in the
Group opener of the 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign on Sunday.
The defeat at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola saw Zambia slump to the
bottom of Group B in the qualifiers while visitors Nigeria took command
of the pool at the end of match day one.
“I am very disappointed and I am very sorry to the nation but we
could have scored at least two or three goals in this game,” Kalaba
said. “We are very disappointed to lose at home. It was very important
to start well unfortunately we didn’t.”
Kalaba had two great chances in the first half to draw level in a
period Nigeria took a 2-0 lead into the break. But his saw his 35th
minute shot go inches wide and in 44th minute, Nigeria goalkeeper Onora
Ikeme parried the Zambia captains effort.
“Losing the first game leaves us with a lot of pressure but we still
have a good team. There is just one mistake we need to rectify in the
team and we will be okay,” Zambia captain concluded.
