Zamia disappointed at soccer team failure for Beijing Olympics

LUSAKA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government has expressed disappointment at the Zambia Under-23 soccer team's failure to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after losing4-1 to Cote d'Ivoire in Abidjan on Sunday.

Ministry of Sport, Youth and Child Development Permanent Secretary, Bob Samakai, said in an interview in Lusaka Monday that it was disappointing that despite the government support, the junior Chipolopolo had lost to a side they beat 2-0 in the first leg, Times of Zambia reported Tuesday.

Samakai said people had realized the talent that Zambia had but that such results left much to be desired on the part of the national soccer governing body, the Football Association of Zambia(FAZ).

"To say the least, we are not happy. Such results are very disappointing despite government's support. We were all hoping for a win, especially that we beat Cote d'Ivoire in the first leg. FAZ management leaves much to be desired. There is a lot of under currents that are going on in FAZ and there is need for them to sort out this mess because it's affecting the performance of the national teams," he said.

Samakai, however, said the loss should not discourage the junior players as they were the future of Zambian football and that losing was part of the game.

He said the Under-23 squad had played a lot of international games, which he described as good exposure for the future, especially with the forthcoming 2010 World Cup.

"This is our future team and the exposure was very good for us. The loss should not discourage the boys. At least it should teach us how to perfect our team in some areas," he said.

And delegation leader, George Kasengele, said in interview from Abidjan Monday that condemning Peter Kaumba now would be unfair.

Kasengele said Kaumba had built a formidable team that had played in two qualifiers of major tournaments, the 2007 All-Africa Games and the on-going Beijing Olympics qualifiers.

He said the Under-23 was a team to reckon with, especially with the experience gained from the total of 15 high-profile matches.

"We lost to a better side and my earnest appeal to the senior team coach, Patrick Phiri, is to look at the Under-23 players because that's where the future of Zambian football lies. We have a team to be proud of," he said.

Kasengele said in as much as Rainford Kalaba and Clifford Mulenga were good players, the duo would not have made a difference as the star-studded Ivorians were just too good a side to beat.