Zimbabwe made a defensively confident Zambia pay in stoppage time of the second half to snatch an equalizer after the 90 minutes to convincingly beat Chipolopolo 4-2 in extra-time in the 2018 COSAFA Cup final played at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
This is after Zambia had come from one-down when Philana Kadewere punished Ziyo Tembo’s poor clearance in the 3rd minute before beating Toaster Nsabata in goals.
But Lazarus Kambole equalized in the 8th minute to see the two sides go 1-1 into the break.
Kambole completed his brace in the 50th minute as Zambia looked like they had finally gotten over their tournament jitters.
However, Chipolopolo gave Khama Billiat too much respect including Talent Chawapiwa who has been a constant thorn-in-the-flesh in their previous two meetings in which he had scored against Chipolopolo.
Then, none of the substitutes that Beston Chambeshi brought on after the hour made any impact as he elected to be defensive when Collins Sikombe replaced Kelvin Mubanga and Ngosa Sunzu came on for John Chingandu.
But Ronald Kampamba’s arrival for Kambole raised more eyebrows and those fears were confirmed in the 89th minute when he hit the post bringing back memories of his missed chances in the 1-0 semifinal win over Madagascar.
Kadewere them stunned Zambia on the counter deep into stoppage time level matters and also score his brace.
It was then that the Khama Billiat show swung into action in extra time after he won and converted an 98th minute penalty before putting the match beyond doubt with a simple tap-in unmarked in 150 minutes.
