Zambia U17 National team captain Jonathan Kalimina has urged his teammates to not relax but work hard when they go back to their respective clubs.
Kalimina says the players should not be comfortable that they were at AFCON because they have a huge challenge ahead.
Kalimina however believes the tournament went well as the team managed to qualify to the world Cup for the very first time.
The Kafue Celtic player was disappointed with the huge loss at the hands of impressive Burkina Faso in a quarter final tie on Thursday evening.
“The team has performed well. We have qualified for the World Cup for the first time. As a captain, I am happy for the team,” he said.
“We wanted to reach the final so we were disappointed with the loss but we will pull up our socks when we go back home.”
“When we go back to our clubs we have to go and work hard on a personal level at our clubs, that’s what I’m asking from my teammates. Everyone who is here can’t be comfortable that we were at AFCON. We just have to work hard, push hard and put in 100 percent effort,” he added.
The Ian Bakala coached side finished second in Group A with seven points to storm the quarter finals and qualify to the World Cup.
Burkina Faso delivered a commanding performance on Thursday evening, thrashing Zambia 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations to storm into the semi-finals for a second consecutive edition.
