The Chipolopolo Boys will be looking for a positive result this afternoon when they take on DR Congo in their opening match of the 2024 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament.
Avram Grant’s men will be hoping to get a win in the opening match and maintain their tradition at this tournament.
Zambia has won their opening match in all four previous appearances:3–0 vs Côte d’Ivoire (2009), 1–0 vs Zimbabwe (2016), 3–1 vs Uganda (2018), 2–0 vs Tanzania (2020).
The Chipolopolo Boys are also unbeaten in all 12 group-stage matches at CHAN (W6 D6).
They however face a DR Congo team that are looking to get back to winning ways after losing 1-0 in their opening match against Co-host Kenya.
The Leopards are winless in five CHAN matches (D2 L3); Their last win came against Niger in 2020 but they have never lost their first two group games at a single CHAN edition.
Chipolopolo Boys captain Kabaso Chongo expressed optimism ahead of the showdown against Congo DR.
“The game will be tough but we are looking forward to facing Congo DR. I have played with a lot of Congolese so I know the coach and what we need to do to get the result,” Chongo said.
“It is going to be tough but for us it is our first game and we just have to work hard to get the result. To my fellow players, they just have to believe in themselves and know what they are here for. When you work hard you get what you need. The fans will just have to continue supporting us and praying for us”.
Kabaso Chongo is expected to play a big role alongside the likes of Kelvin Mubanga Kampamba, Andrew Phiri and Kelvin Kapumbu.
This is the Chipolopolo’s fifth appearance at the biannual tournament with their best outing being 2009 when they finished third.
The team will look to better that record and reach the final for the very first time and possibly win the tournament.
Kickoff at the Nyayo Stadium is at 15h00 CAT with the match live on ZNBC TV1 and SuperSport (227).
