The Zambia U-23 national team has started its preparations in readiness for the Egypt 2019 U23 AFCON final round first leg qualifier against Congo Brazzaville slated for June 5th at the National Heroes Stadium.
Speaking to the Zamfoot Crew during a training session held at National Heroes Stadium this morning Assistant Coach Tenant Chilumba declared the team ready to face Congo Brazzaville but admitted that it was a huge task .
“The players are working very hard in training and aiming for victory It is a big challenge but we are ready, we just have to put our heads together and get a win against Congo Brazzaville,” he said.
Chilumba is happy with the way things are going and revealed that everything was going according to plan. The players have reported for camp with only Nkana and Buildcon players missing due to a club engagement.
“So far so good, everyone is in, it is only Nkana and Buildcon players who have a game on Wednesday. The program is on course,” He said.
“There is stiff competition, we have brought in some new players like Mwepu (Francisco) from Kafue Celtic, Benson Kolala from Forest Rangers and Zackaria Chilongoshi from Kabwe Warriors,” He added.
Zambia will take on Congo Brazzaville in the first leg on the 5th June before travelling to Pointe Noire for the Second leg. The winner over two legs will qualify to the U-23 Africa of Nations to be staged in Egypt with the top three teams at the tournament booking places at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Zambian coaches today he says the team is ready and when results don’t go as expected they start making funny excuses…am praying the under 23 wins
Any friendly matches in place
The game will be played in almost 30 days time and you declare the team ready today? Optimism is good but it’s better to be realistic and prepare adequately until the final day. What about foreign based players, aren’t they going to be part of the team? If they will, have you already worked on jellying the team for coordination? It’s too early to declare the team ready ba coach, with due respect
You have raised good and intelligent points which the coach failed to think of…
All local Under 23 should have played COSAFA.
@Fanatic well spoken how can the Coach be saying the team is ready this early? They have just included new players as well.
Play a good friendly game with Teams like RSA(Amajita) who have done well at Youth level lately. Then you can gauge your readiness.
Not just giving out press statements for the sake of saying something then it comes back and bites you. Get some Video of the Congo Brazille last game and start plotting not just talking. I’m sure FAZ can help in this respect.
Yeah you have to win TC at all cost