We Did Not Lose Against a Better Team, but Against Nigeria-says Zambia coach.

Herve Renard  Zambia coach said he can  not say that they have lost to a better team but to Nigeria which only that is a strong team and qualified for World Cup South Africa.

Renard was reacting after his team  was booted out by Nigeria in the ongoing 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.

“Tonight we did not lose against a better team, but against Nigeria, which is a strong team and qualified for the World Cup. I'm very proud of my players. Congratulations to Nigeria, I wish them the best for the semi-finals,” he was quoted on cafonline.com website.

 “Our strategy was good, but unfortunately we did not score. We missed chances but no problem: Zambians can be very proud of their team. I am very satisfied with the play of the team, I can not blame my players, who played very well and dominated the game,” he added.

Nigeria waited for 120 minutes and five penalties for them to qualify for the Semi finals.

In the first 45 minutes it was difficult to separate the two sides as the score sheet was zero-zero.

Both sides failed to score goals in the second forty five minutes which led the match to reach into extra time.

Zambians took control of the match subjecting the Nigerians to fretful situations, but they failed to capitalize their chances due to their poor marksmanship which led them to miss more scoring opportunities.

 In the extra time it ended also with no goals and the game was forced into penalties where, the Nigerians converted their five penalties while the fourth Zambian kick taken by Nyirenda, was simply saved by Nigerian goalkeeper, Enyama to surrender the match to Super Eagles .

On his remarks after the game Shuaibu Amodu  Nigeria coach said he was worried during the game specially with reputation of his team.

“I was worried about the reputation of Nigeria, not for my position: it was not good to be eliminated again at the quarter-final (as in 2008).

“We had to overcome this obstacle, because Zambia is a very good team, attacking and defending together. I told my players that this would be one of our toughest matches. Since the first day, we said we had a team that could win the tournament. I know I have players who can do it.”

“Today, we have not played too well but it was good to speak as a team. It is not the best right now, but getting better all the time, and within five months we will be much better,” he added.

So the game ended 5-4 in post match penalties favouring Nigeria who are expected to play their semifinal match against Black Stars of Ghana.