Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga has revealed that the Africa Cup bound Zambia Under-17 national team will be camped in North Africa ahead of the Algeria Under-17 AFCON.
Kamanga says this will afford the team some international friendly matches before they can kick start their AFCON campaign.
Kamanga said FAZ has no doubt that the team will be ready by the time the tournament kicks off.
Kamanga wrote this in his weekly update, the President corner. Kamanga also confirmed that coach Ian Bakala has roped in some players from the Rest Squad that faced his all stars team last week.
“Our under-17 Men’s National Team have heightened preparations for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations that kicks off on April 29. Coach Ian Bakala and his technical bench had the final check of local players with an All Stars versus The Rest match at Nkoloma Stadium. It was good to see players selected by the technical experts in the provinces have a good run against the All Stars provisional squad. It is not surprising that some players The Rest team have been roped into the AFCON bound squad,” Kamanga wrote.
“We are alive to the routine outcry every time selections for junior teams are selected but also take cognizance of the fact that some complaints are borne out of ignorance. Few people care to understand that junior team tournaments are age-restricted and are not open-ended to anyone playing in the lower leagues in the provinces. There are requisite procedures like the Magnetic Imaging Resonance (MRI) and other procedures that are mandatory for participating teams. We implore some of the stakeholders that cry foul to familiarise themselves with some of the tournament requirements for various age group tournaments.”
“On our part as FAZ we will ensure that the team is camped in North Africa before the tournament kicks off and afforded some international friendly matches. We have no doubt that the team will be ready by the time the tournament kicks off,” he added.
The under-17 Men’s National Team have heightened preparations for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations that kicks off on April 29.
The junior Chipolopolo will be based in Constantine and will compete with Nigeria, Morocco and South Africa in the group of death.
The tournament will run from 29 April to 19 May 2023.
The top four sides in the competition will qualify for the 2023 Under-17 World Cup which will be staged in Peru from Nov. 10-Dec. 2.
