The veteran Israeli gaffer has revealed he had been offered chances to work with the 2012 AFCON winners before finally taking up the post late last year.
ZAMBIA national team coach Avram Grant says he rejected advances to take over reigns as Chipolopolo coach twice prior to his appointment on a two-year deal last year in December.
FAZ appointed the 67-year old experienced former Chelsea manager to replace Aljosa Asanovic as Chipolopolo coach at the close of last year with the gaffer going on to guide the team to back-to-back victories over Lesotho in March to be in contention to qualify for the Ivory Coast 2023 Africa Cup of Nations having missed out on the last three editions of the tournament.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Israeli media outlet, ONE, Grant revealed that he had initially been approached by Zambia-based countryman and top agent Nir Karin to present himself for the Chipolopolo job in 2021.
“A guy named Nir Karin who does great work in Zambia and loves Africa very much. He arrived [in Zambia] 20 years ago, for 20 years now he goes back and forth, tries very hard to help them and is a very good player agent” Grant said.
“He talked to me two years ago and a year ago, I told him that I thought I wouldn’t come [to Zambia] because I didn’t feel 100%. I remember once he (Karin) told me 90% is also good and I told him if I don’t have 100% in my head I don’t want to come.”
Grant revealed he was convinced to take up the Chipolopolo after meetings with FAZ President Andrew Kamanga on the sidelines of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
“This time he made contact with the president of Zambia [FAZ] and we met twice, once in Qatar and once in the United Arab Emirates, I liked that he wanted to move forward. I liked his vision because he knew that Zambia was not one of the lions of Africa. We talked a few more times, in the end we closed and I’m very happy” he said.
Meanwhile, Grant revealed that he had set up a strong backroom staff despite having had little time before going into the crucial encounters against Likuena.
“I arrived on the 2nd of January and I was there for a whole month to see the players in the local league, after that a month in Europe to see the players of the national team and then I returned to Zambia for the two very important games against Lesotho. I built a great team, Marco Balbul with me, Ohad Efrat who is a high level analyst, Dr. Yaniv Yunai who helped us and is of a very high level” said Grant.
With the Chipolopolo needing just a point when they host Ivory Coast next month to secure their qualification, Grant has revealed that his immediate target is to guide the nation back to the AFCON as well as the 2025 FIFA World Cup for the first time ever.
“The big expectation is to advance to the African Championship [AFCON], because they haven’t been there in many years, we have to build a team for the future.
The second goal is to go to the World Cup, they have never been to the World Cup. That’s actually what attracted me. I have been to many important places and events, but I miss the interest of the World Cup. I tried to get there with the Israeli national team, we had the same amount of points as Switzerland but a few goals less” Grant said.
After a career spanning over 50 years, Grant who guided Chelsea to the UEFA Champions League final were they lost on penalties Manchester United, said he desires to coach at the World Cup stage before retiring.
“I want to be at the World Cup as a coach, I haven’t been there yet. I was in an official position this year, FIFA chose me for the big project of ‘FIFA Legends’ and it was a great honor as the first Israeli, I hope not the last, to be there but my second goal has not changed – to enjoy what I do and do it properly.
To go to a place like Zambia and help develop the place, try to win games like we did in the last two games and it brought happiness and joy to the residents. I couldn’t walk around the street, I cut the visit short because they wrapped me in love. My goal is to keep having fun. Look, the way football was I have the good fortune to lecture at large universities and I am asked if I should set goals, in principle yes, but I have not set goals for myself in my career” he added.
Grant would become only the first coach to guide the Chipolopolo to the AFCON since 2015 under the tutelage of Honour Janza.
[Wami Katanga ]
👀 sooooo the ‘ application process’ was formality.. anyway, great pick
Imagine this,the Zambia way of getting employed awe sure.. it’s who you know.Sad reading,