Zambian international Songwe Chalwe, who returned from Zambia on Tuesday after his country’s 1-0 loss in group 1 of Africa Zone World Cup qualifiers, described his country’s loss against Senegal as a nightmare.

“What should have been a historical weekend turned out to be a scene from one of my worst nightmares,” he said.

Victory would have seen Zambia climb to the top of the group with 21 points. Defeat now means that the Zambians final game against Liberia is meaningless as they have ensured third place in the group which that they at least qualify for the 2006 African Nations Cup in Egypt.

Zambia looked to be heading to take a point out of the game when disaster struck just before the hour mark as El Hadji Diouf of England’s Bolton Wanderers pounced on inept defending to round off an excellent days play as he made Zambia pay for a lapse in concentration.

“This game could have been ours we had the chances but did not take them and the only consolation is the fact that we can look forward to the Caf Nations Cup, we will be a better team and stronger when the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers come around,” the final remarks from a dejected Songwe Chalwe.

Former Amakhosi striker Collins Mbesuma thought he had given the Zambians the lead early on in the game only to see his thunderous shot ricochet off the crossbar. The Amakhosi hero obviously has not forgotten his scoring boots at Naturena.