WE WORKED AND WON AS A TEAM – MAYUKA

Chipolopolo striker Emmanuel Mayuka says team work helped Zambia to a 3 – 0 victory over Niger in a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match played at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium on Wednesday.

Zambia recorded the first win of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches with Rainford Kalaba, Emmanuel Mayuka and Kennedy Mweene registering their names on the score sheet.

It took the Chipolopolo an hour to find the breakthrough when Donashano Malama’s searching ball was headed in by Kalaba who was unmarked at the far post.

The second goal came in the 72nd minute when Mayuka fired home from the goal line after goalkeeper Daouda Kassaly and his defenders failed to deal with Given Singuluma’s square pass into the area.

Singuluma was also involved in the third goal as he won the penalty that was converted by Mweene two minutes before the end.

With the victory Zambia moved into second place with five points on goal difference from Mozambique and four points behind leaders Cape Verde who are already assured of qualification.

“First and foremost I would like to say thank you to God; without God we are nothing. Secondly I would like to say thank you to the team because we worked extremely hard and I am not saying this because I scored but I believe in every department we also worked as a team.

“I would also like to say thank you to the coach for believing in the team and the supporters for supporting us,” Mayuka said.

Mayuka added that he was happy to have scored for the Chipolopolo and that supporters should expect more to come from the Southampton striker.

“I believe in life that everyone goes through a bad spell; one cannot be perfect in everything but you just have to keep on fighting and keep on going. I believe that I am a team player. I always want to play with my team and not as an individual; so even if I score it is because am putting in everything for the team.

Me scoring today is just the beginning of where I left off. With hard work everything pays off. I will keep working hard for the national team and when I get back to my club back in England.”

Meanwhile coach Janza has said the victory was good motivation for the team.

“It is obvious that players get motivated when they win. This win has a lot of intrinsic motivation in the players,” Janza said

Zambia’s next group match will be played on November 15 against Mozambique in Maputo before hosting Cape Verde four days later

FAZ