Chipolopolo coach Avram Grant says players who will not show the desire to play for the National Team will not be summoned.
The former Chelsea boss was speaking during a press briefing on Monday afternoon at Football house.
The 68 year old reiterated that the team was more important than any individual player.
“Players that will not show desire will not be here. There were two players who last time did not show desire and we have not taken them. The team is more important than any individual,” he said.
Grant says he will sometime put good players on the bench as substitutes are very important in football and can win games.
The Israeli gaffer has also welcomed the high competition in the team and wants players to give him a selection headache.
“I will always play with the best starting eleven. Sometimes I put good players on the bench because I think substitutes are very important. The last game we did not need much,” he said.
“My target is to have 30 players who can play in the National Team. The players’ job is to compete and give me a headache.”
“I think the team played well (against Lesotho) and I think they will play better in the next game. I am always looking at improving in every game. We can improve but there were a lot of good things in the last two games as compared to before,” he added.
The Chipolopolo Boys will leave for South Africa today for a one week camp ahead of the match against the Elephants of Ivory Coast.
Zambia and Ivory Coast will battle it out at Ndola’s Levy Mwanawasa Stadium on June 17.
Zambia are second on nine points behind leaders and already qualified Ivory Coast in Group H and need a point in the remaining two group matches to secure a spot at next year’s AFCON.
The final group match will be played in September 2023 against Comoros.
Tickets for the June 17 qualifier match can be purchased in Shoprite via CompuTicket from K20 for early birds and K50 for north and south wings. East wing tickets are pegged at K150, K200 for west and K750 for VIP.
Let the game begin.