Zambia will be making a second appearance at the CAF U17 African Cup of Nations.
The tournament which will be hosted by Algeria will start on 29th April.
Below the ZamFoot Crew takes a look at some of the members of the Zambia bench
Ian Bakala – Head Coach
Bakala rose to stardom at boyhood club Kabwe Warriors as a teenager.
He was part of the Andrew Sinkala led class of ’99 which faced Ronaldinho’s Brazil and, Xabi and Iker Casilas’ Spain at the World Youth Championship in Nigeria.
There was a midfield selection dilemma for coach Patrick Phiri as he had to pick three from Bakala, Sinkala, Gift Kampamba and Perry Mutapa
Bakala then had a stint in Belgium before successful spells in Zimbabwe and Angola were he is considered as one of the based foreign invaders to have ever graced Girabola.
He is fluent in Portuguese.
He featured for Zambia at two African Cup of Nations [2006 & 2008] and both occasion Zambia failed to make it out of the group stage.
He started his coaching career at Lusaka Dynamos youth under Bana Mercy’s Lusaka Football Association, LFA.
It was that 12 month spell in the LFA that moulded and shaped his coaching career before he transitioned to coach the Chrispine Mugalu led Lusaka Dynamos.
Despite Lusaka Dynamos’ dwindling financial woes, Bakala led the club to a respectable finish in the league.
There was misunderstanding between Bakala and management that led him leave ‘The Elite.’
He returned to Kabwe Warriors as a coach but again despite leading his club to continental football, he was axed because he didn’t have the required papers to coach at top level.
Warriors’ loss was Forest gain as he transformed the Ndola.
Kachepa on the Ball has it that he was recently given a 2 game ultimatum by Forest Rangers.
Can Bakala qualify Zambia U17 to a maiden World Cup appearance?
