A former Zesco United official once said: “We have won the league so many times, and our targets now are Africa. Mumamba Numba knows exactly what that statement means.
Zesco United, on October 16, confirmed they had parted company with coach Numba.
“ZESCO United Football Club management would like to thank Mumamba Numba for his services in the last two seasons, which resulted in the team winning one league title and qualifying for the 2021/22 CAF Champions League and the 2022/23 CAF Confederations competitions, respectively,” Zesco CEO Charles Kalala said in a statement.
NUMBA PARTSWAYS WITH ZESCO
Zesco United parted ways with Numba after over two years in charge that began on a rosy note when he won them the league title in his first season in charge in 2020/2021.
But Mumamba Numba failed to defend the league title in the 2021/2022 season when Zesco finished second behind Red Arrows.
It didn’t end there last term. Earlier that season, Zesco failed to advance from the preliminary stage of the CAF Champions League for the first time.
Mumamba Numba also failed to win the ABSA Cup during his tenure with a runners-up finish in 2021, the best shot, in a competition Zesco are the record champion with six titles since last winning it in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic era.
ZESCO UNITED’S FAILURE
His sacking came 24 hours after Zesco was eliminated from the 2022/2023 CAF Confederation Cup by continental debutants Royal AM of South Africa.
That second round, final leg game ended 1-1 at home in Ndola to see Zesco bow out by the same aggregate score line on the away goals rule.
Zesco’s failure also saw the first time the Zambian club failed to advance in continental competition in back-to-back seasons.
The situation didn’t help Numba in a season that Zambia’s CAF Inter-Club slots were reduced from four to two following a litany of poor group stage results by Zesco and their compatriots in the last five years has enjoyed that privilege.
Furthermore, Zesco were the last man standing in Africa in the 2022/2023 season after Red Arrows also exited on the first hurdle in the CAF Champions League in September.
Zesco prides its African record with patriotism only comparable to Chipolopolo’s traditional but now illusive quest to qualify for AFCON.
To put it into context, Zesco has ambitious plans to Keep up with the Jones’s next-door TP Mazembe, where continental by the DR Congo giants’ failure gets one sacked.
TEMPORAL CHARGE
Moreover, Zesco is Zambia’s most successful continental campaigner with six group stage appearances that include the 2016 CAF Champions League semifinal and 2017 CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinal appearances.
Five of those league-round appearances came successively between 2016 and 2020.
Such are the benchmarks Numba was hired for but failed to attain in his two-and-half years at Zesco after he was sacked by Zanaco.
At his former club and seven-time Zambian champions Zanaco, Numba made just two group stage appearances in 2017 and 2020, including one league title in 2016 plus an ABSA Cup triumph in 2017.
Meanwhile, Zesco has not announced Numba’s permanent replacement but put veteran assistant Alfred Lupiya in temporal charge.
Lupiya takes charge at Zesco, who are currently winless in their last two league games on 9 points from six games and with a match in hand.
Numba’s successor must not be under any illusions. His predecessors sacking makes scaling the heights of Everest look easier than making Zesco’s African dreams come true.
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