Chipolopolo forward Fashion Sakala is eager to get started at the ongoing 34 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Sakala believes Zambia will progress to the knockout stages from their group as the squad is highly motivated ahead of their opening match on Wednesday.
The Al Feiha striker believes it’s time for Zambia to show that they have built a strong squad when they face Congo DR with the 1974 final loss at the back of their minds.
“We are in a very good group, if we stick together, show dedication, passion and hard work I think we will go through. There are no easy games, we have tough teams in our group but I believe we can do it and the squad is highly motivated. I think everyone will give everything for us to go through,” he said.
“We are very excited as a team, I saw something that we lost to Congo sometime ago in the final (1974), I think this is the time for us to show that we have built a strong and ready to fight. All we want is to win a game and start on a good note to excite our fans back home.”
“I know the country is excited because it’s been a long time since we were in this competition (8 years). All I can ask for is for the fans to keep supporting us like they did during qualifiers,” he added.
The squad has some of the players from the Young Chipolopolo side that won the 2017 U-20 AFCON and Sakala believes it’s a motivating factor for them going into this tournament.
Sakala is confident is the prowess of the Chipolopolo frontline saying anyone can score and hurt the opponents.
“What we did at U20 level is special now we are here at the big stage and everyone is looking at us like they did at the junior level now they need to do it at the senior level. We have the same language to help each and every one so that we can go far. I believe we have a Very good squad to achieve what we are looking for. What we did at the U-20 level is a motivation for us,” Sakala said.
“We are ready for any team. The good thing about our squad is that our strike force is very dangerous. If they concentrate on me, Patson Daka will score, Lameck Banda will score, Edward Chilufya will score. This is a very good thing about our squad. Each and every one can score. We can get goals from each and every player. We are highly motivated and feel like we can’t wait to get started.”
Sakala was also quick to heap praise of the gaffer, Avram Grant who he feels is playing the mentor role to the team.
“He is like our mentor. Since he joined the National Team a lot of things have changed. The squad is not the same, it’s very motivated. We were not sure when going to games, now we have a lot of confidence, it’s something he has brought. He is always talking about passion and dedication. Everyone wants to prove and play the games which are helping us win games. I am hoping we can go as far as we can,” he said.
The Chipolopolo will face DR Congo on Wednesday at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in a 22h00 (Zambian Time) kickoff in their opening Group F fixture with the second game against Tanzania four days later.
Zambia’s final group match will be against the Atlas Lions on January 24.
