Oz 2022, Part 2:
it was a lot more comfortable against the Czechs than I expected, and we coasted to victory:
the absence of big names in the upper section of draw meant that we faced the Aussies for a spot in the semifinals! the partisan crowd couldn't have expected the beat-down their team would get at the hands of the African champions:
the Dutch had faced an equally easy route to the semis, so this was going to be an interesting match ... it ended up being a really tight match with plenty of late drama:
when we got the penalty in the 80th, and Mwewa converted, I thought we could ride it out to the final whistle ... but I guess my boys were busy counting their chickens, coz they allowed the Dutch an instant reply ... and before we knew what hit us, it was 1-2, and
we were the ones suddenly scrambling to find an equalizer ... I told my players to pour forward to find that goal; and wouldn't you know it, they hit us on the counter to bury the match ...
a crazy last 10 minutes there, from having one foot in the final, to being dumped out of contention ... the Dutch then went on to break their WC hoodoo and finally put a star on their shirt:
but at least we had a chance not to leave Oz empty-handed -- we faced the Frenchies, who we managed to successfully avoid in the 2nd round, for Bronze:
despite the fact that I wish we played like that (^) in the match against the Dutch, I was still proud of a pretty incredible World Cup, ending on a high, with medals and awards:
Agripa Biemba, my Italian-Zambian, etched his name alongside some of greatest players in World Cup history ... a tremendous achievement for Zambian football!