THE Zambia Under-20 soccer team which has been disowned by FAZ today begins its quest to claim the COSAFA Youth Championship title when they take on Lesotho with coach Hector Chilombo targeting maximum points to start the campaign on a high.
The team that left Lusaka yesterday morning arrived in Bulawayo late in the evening for the COSAFA tournament that is being organised under the African Union Sports Commission (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games that starts today and ends on December 14.
The matches in the men’s competition will be played over 10 days, culminating in the final at Bulawayo’s Barbourfields Stadium on December 14.
Zambia is in Group B with defending champions South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia while Seychelles withdrew. South Africa, led by current Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba, won the 2012 edition in Lusaka after beating Zambia 2-1 at Nkoloma Stadium.
Group A has hosts Zimbabwe as top seeds, Mozambique, Swaziland, Angola and Malawi in what is likely to be a hotly contested pool. The top two
teams in each pool advance to the semi-finals, which will be played on December 12.
Zambia takes on Lesotho at the Luveve Stadium and Chilombo will be hoping his boys fight off the fatigue before facing the tiny mountainous nation.
Having already qualified for the Senegal 2015 Africa Youth Championship, Chilombo will be, apart from using this tournament as part of preparations, also be eyeing to win the title.
Chilombo has picked a squad comprising some old and new faces in the team with the likes of Paston Daka elevated from the junior side owing his impressive prowess in-front of goal.
Others in the team include experienced Mangani Banda, Boyd Mkandawire, Samson Banda, Patrick Ngoma and Moses Phiri whom Chilombo will be banking on to inspire the team to victory.
“I think we have prepared well and the confidence in the team is high with everyone looking forward to the match. Our target is to get the six points from the two games to earn us qualification,” he said.
Zambia will tomorrow take on Namibia in a 14:00 hours kick off at the Luveve Stadium before playing South Africa in the final fixture on Sunday at the Barbourfields Stadium in a 16:30 hours kick-off.
Meanwhile, the Zambian team head into their opening match against the background of being disowned by FAZ who said they had nothing to do with the team.
This was after former Under-20 manager Daniel Jere and some other officials submitted a list to Ministry of Sport which was not approved by FAZ and it contained names of players who were not involved in the qualifiers.
FAZ executive committee member Lee Kawanu said the association wanted to use the competition as part of preparations for the Africa Junior and Youth Championships by fusing in Under-17 and 20 players.
Chipolopolo coach Honor Janza has also summoned up to six U20 players for the national team camp which begins on Sunday.
[ZamFoot / Times]
ZAMFOOT ,could you enlighten us more on this article on how former officals have say on the team and who picks the young guns U20..Thanks
But zoona FAZ is made up of silly leaders…no wonder u can’t even clear a free bus given to u…these boys are Zambians and their development is good for the country; no matter the differences these boys needed FAZ’s blessings…l hope they win the tournament!
Yes Zamfoot, a bit more detail on this whole disowning thing. How can FAZ disown one of their own?
@Big steve, even parents disown useless kids, Zambian under 20 team has no future, how many of them are getting trained in european top academies?
Get a life…junior teams are the bedrock of every national team! Playing in europe my backside, do you think Yaya, his brothers and friends got to Europe from nothing?! They first had to be noticed in junior teams while playing in international tournaments…its simple logic…
Really Alex?!!! You have to understand that there is a fundamental difference with us southern and central Africans as compared to West Africans. We do not travel to Europe in droves seeking to get ahead like a large population of west africans do. Somehow, we are more content travelling within our region for jobs and do not like to to take the risk of going to Europe to “try our luck.” So you are not going to get 100’s of zambian players in youth academies with dual citizenship in Europe.
Even though you mention this. You also forget to mention the thousands of lost footballers out of west africa who are working minimum wage jobs in Europe and living there illegally because some fraud agent promised them the world. We don’t want that for our boys in Zambia.
Everyone has to start from somehwere like my good friend said. Youth football starts at home and not in Europe. The European academies are not going to breed success at the national team level. Look at Ivorycoast, guys like Yaya Toure, came from the ASEC Mimosa academy in Ivorycoast. Pretty sure most of your national team players are products of Ghanaian academies and clubs and not Europe.
I can tell you now the are hundrends of kids now from west african perfecting their crafts by top footballing minds across europe. The U20 championship in Senegal will attract scouts in numbers, This thing of disowing your U20 team will not do Zambia any good.
Look Zambia has a player playing in england for the saints because of being discovered while displaying his talents in this youth tornaments. Mayuka is a good playind in a league/team not suited to his style.
A player like bony who went to europe at a very young age can develop into a world class player. In 2 years time bony will be a world class striker.
@Alexzz today i agree with you on one point that @Mayuka is a very good player but in a wrong club which does not suit his style of play. Yes those around him and the coach don’t play to his strengths. Of course getting 10mins is also not helping him.
zamfoot is the game live on TV?
@ Alex zz what are you saying??? read your posts and see the blatant contradiction. You are all over the place my man.
Your first post speaks to our U20 boys being useless and having no future then your subsequent posts are about how talent is discovered when these same youth play youth tournaments!!! make up your mind what it is you are trying to say then post something logical my man.
@ Alex zz despite ur unveiled sarcasm, you have a great point on Bony becoming a great due to his early introduction to the European league. This is wot Zambian players ought to be striving for. But hey you don’t gave to be sarcastic about it man hahaha! Just saying
@ Bolapazed we need to stop making excuses for Mayuka. The boy should just pull up his socks and he will be fine. Koeman is way too experienced a coach to not know or identify a players strengths. He is sitting on a position on the log only about 5% of the coaches in the world could achieve with average players. What he is achieving at the saints is nothing short of a miracle at the moment. Mayuka is slowly getting game time lets push him hard to keep working hard rather than make excuses for him.
Kalu is just useless period.
@Big steve your U20 is useless, but surely the is one or two players who can make a step up to top acamedies in europe.
well Afcon draw has been made! Hope FAZ has not disowned our mighty Chipolopolo because Group B is not as easy as people think…. If we don’t prepare adequately, our players will be watching others on the screen.
It appears most bloggers have not followed this article. Dickson Jere who has now been susspended misinformed faz that we are to send U20 team and yet it was suppose to be U17. To make matters worse, he submitted names of players that didnt play in the qualifiers. Faz wanted to send “U17 or U20 proper “. Under 20 proper has players like captain Lubambo,Larry Bwalya,Sautu,Saith Sakala,Kayawe Kapota,Charles Zulu,etc. This is a no nonsense squad. If u watch them u agree that Zambia’s football future is bright. Faz reported to the organizers that the team was erroneously sent & requested that the team be withdrawn so that we send the team which is Senegal bound so that they use the tournament as a prpreparation but the organizers declined which made faz to say its no use sending a team that is not 100percent Senegal bound. Who is to blame? Faz? Dickson Jere? or Hector Chilombo? Have your say.
Martinez. So you are basically saying we have an organization running football that is so disorganized that the coach of the U20 and the manager of the U20 are unaware of the organizations policies or mandates concerning team selection. I’m sorry, but that sounds like a load of rubbish on FAZ’s part and the team managers part. Processes should be laid in place and everyone should be informed of what they are.
It’s hard to comment on such kind of issues where the article is half baked, hence people jst impose their opinions depending on which side they are, without being objective.
Zamfoot update us with the hapenings of the U20 in zimbabwe
The disowned team has hammered south Africa7ca 6-1. I don’t understand this article . Neither do I understand what Martinez is saying.
Zamfoot you have gone to sleep. 10 man U20 butcherd amajita 6:1.
this is an under 17 and not under 20. Hey you are misleading the readers.