ZESCO United coach George Lwandamina says the referee who handled his team’s 2-1 loss to Despotivo Agosto of Angola in the CAF Champions League on Friday was “not man enough”.

Agosto left it late after going down at home but rallied to emerge victorious in the last seconds of additional time to condemn the Zambian champions to the bottom of group B and on the brink of missing out on qualification to the knock out stage of CAF’s premier club competition.

Looking like they were heading for a win, Zesco employed some delaying tactics, which later proved costly as the home side pushed for an equaliser and the referee gave six minutes within which the Angolans found the winner to send them into second position.

“Football is a game of chance. We lost concentration, we lost a game we could have won. It was a frustrating game, especially by the referee. If he was man enough [he was going] to call a spade a spade. He caused the loss of concentration towards the end,” Lwandamina said in his post-match comments.
Asked about chances of progressing to the next round in the two remaining games against Mbabane Swallows and group leaders Etoile du Sahel, Lwandamina remained optimistic saying his team can still rebound. “Football is a funny game. I am sure we can still come out,” said Lwandamina.