Zambia coach Hervé Renard has expressed displeasure over his players’ instincts to launch into all-out attack.
The Frenchman said his side was technically gifted, but needed to maintain more tactical discipline. The Chipolopolo reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) after beating the National Lightning of Equatorial Guinea 1-0 on Monday.
“If you left the Zambian players to their own devices, the whole team would just join the attack,” Renard said.
“In 2010, we played the first game against Tunisia (and won) and I was wearing a white shirt. The second game . . . I put on a blue shirt and we lost. Zambia coach Herve Renard on his “lucky white shirt.”
“They love to play all the time. So we have to try and keep their style, to stay organised at the same time and use the experience we got in 2010 (in Angola).”
Invariably vibrant and entertaining to watch, Zambia topped Group A after beating Senegal and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, while drawing with Libya.
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They will find out their quarter-final opponents when Group B is completed on Monday evening, with the Zambians potentially facing Ivory Coast, Angola or even Sudan in the next round.
Renard, who once led English lower league side Cambridge United, was previously assistant to Claude Le Roy with Ghana and said the World Cup quarter-finalists were on a different level in tactical terms.