After 120 minutes without a goal, it was down to the dreaded penalties to decide who goes through to meet Ghana in the semis. Zambia's Thomas Nyirenda saw his penalty saved by Nigerian goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama to dash the hopes of southern Africa's remaining campaigners in the tournament. The result saw the Super Eagles on Nigeria joining Egypt, Ghana and Algeria in the semis. It was a painful exit for Chipolopolo, which played beautiful football and deserved to get a positive result from the game. The Zambians must learn that beautiful football without goals does not guarantee progress in tournaments. If the Zambians could have converted the numerous scoring chances they created, the COSAFA region could be singing a different tune.
Under the tutelage of Frenchman Herve Renard, Chipolopolo have improved a lot and tried to scale the heights like the crack side which perished in a plane crash off the coast of Gabon in 1993. In defeat, the people of Zambia must feel proud of their side. The coach must be given a chance to continue building a team for the 2012 AFCON finals. Against Nigeria, Chipolopolo missed the services of creative midfielder Rainford Kalaba, who was serving a suspension.
