The Zambia U20 National Team will return to action this evening at the ongoing TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Junior Chipolopolo will face off with Egypt in their second Group A game at the Suez Canal Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 21:00 local time / 20:00 CAT).
Head coach Boyd Mulwanda says the team has prepared adequately as they aim to get their first win of the Competition following their opening day draw against Sierra Leone.
They however face a team coming off a loss and Mulwanda is aware of how difficult such matches are but he is confident his boys will fight for a win.
“We are preparing for Egypt, everyone is positive and putting an effort to try and get a result against Egypt,” he said.
“When a team is coming from a loss they will try and recover from that loss so playing against them is not easy because they know they have lost a game and they have to make amends and win their next match but looking at the way the Boys have been preparing I think everyone is ready and are going to fight for the team,” he added.
The Young Chipolopolo failed to win any game at the last edition but Mulwanda wants the team to record a win at least.
Mulwanda says he has been talking to the boys to utilize their chances this evening.
“It’s very important for us (the opening game point), the point will motivate the boys to go and fight and get a win. We need to win in this tournament. If you check from the previous edition that we came here, we never won a match. This one at least has to tell the boys that we have to win a match in this competition,” he said.
“We have been talking to the Boys to be positive and let’s utilize our chances that we create. A game of this magnitude just needs one chance you score, and you defend and win the match.”
“From the start of the preparations, the Boys are positive and showing signs that they want to win and achieve something for the nation,” he added.
Egypt and Zambia will meet at the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 AFCON for a third time. Zambia have won both of the sides’ previous two meetings.
They were in 2007 when Zambia, after losing their first group game against Nigeria, defeated Cameroon in their second game and Egypt in their third group match to progress to semi-finals along with Nigeria. Egypt were eliminated along with Cameroon.
The last meeting between the teams came in 2017 in their final group game. Zambia, the tournament hosts, won 3-1 in Lusaka.
Zambia are facing a host nation for the third time have lost both their previous games. They lost 3-1 to Ghana in the 1999 semi-finals and 2-1 to Nigeria in their final group game in 1995.
“It’s very important for us to try and get a positive result, win two or three games in this tournament so that we start setting standards for the boys to know that in the tournament you have to win games to move to the next round,” Mulwanda said.
“We have told the boys to be free and express themselves. It’s their game, it’s their stage and it’s for their future . For us we are just here to help them and guide them where they are not doing well. We try to help them and see how best they can perform on the field.”
“It’s very important for us to deliver because the fans , everyone is just hoping the boys put up a good fight and qualify for the World Cup so we have told the boys that the demand is just too high at home, so they have to work hard and get the positive result that people want at home,” he added.
Zambia started the tournament with a 0-0 draw against Sierra Leone, marking the second consecutive finals in which they have drawn their opening match.
They are now winless in their last four tournament games, having drawn one and lost two in 2023.
I wonder if you took any strikers in you team, failing to score easy chances.