Leicester City forward Patson Daka believes the Chipolopolo Boys players are the ones who can get the country out of the place they are in.
Daka says he understands why the fans are upset but was quick to ask the fans not to give up on the team as they also don’t want to be failing.
The Copper Bullets have failed to qualify to the continental showpiece, the Africa Cup of Nations three times in a row, 2017, 2019, and 2021 editions respectively and are already out of contention for qualification to the 2022 World Cup.
“They are going to be very intense games, we not expecting them to be easy, We know that we are not going to make it to the World Cup but we just have to take these games seriously because it is the start of our new journey, they will show us where we have to go next and it’s also for the pride of the country, we have to give it our very best,” Daka said.
“We understand why the fans feel like that, They feel betrayed. We are the ones who put ourselves in this position and we are the same people who can revive the hope in the fans but to be honest it’s not like we also want to be failing or to be disappointing them. Even at home if a child is failing you don’t have to neglect them, it won’t help them in any way. You have to support them and encourage them. They will have that desire because of the belief from the parents, We just hope they will come in numbers to support us, we will give our best to get them a positive result, It’s not football without them.”
Daka has been in fantastic form for the Foxes. The 2017 CAF young player of the year opened his Premier League goal account against Manchester United last month before following it up with a spectacular performance against Spartak Moscow in the UEFA Europa League which saw him score four goals including a record-breaking nine-minute hat-trick.
” It’s been a good few weeks for me and not just me but all Zambians in Europe we all doing great, we always pushing each other, we are encouraging each other. It’s a great motivation to know that we are going somewhere and opening doors for our friends back home. We know that we have people who are looking up to us hence we don’t have to disappoint them and ourselves,” he said.
“It’s different, playing for your national team and your club. It’s very hard and very sad at the same time that the way we play at club level is not the same way we play at the national team but like I said it’s different, we don’t get to play with each other often, the consistency of players, not just performance-wise but injuries. The more we are consistently playing together I think it will help us to do better,” added.
Meanwhile, Klings Kangwa says he is grateful to be handed a call up for national duty which has come as a result of his fantastic performance for Arsenal Tula in the Russian Premier League.
“First of all, I would like to say thank you to the coaches for giving me this opportunity. It’s good to see everyone is here now, so we can’t wait for the game. Hopefully, we are going to give everything and get a win. Yes, we are not playing for anything but every game we need to take seriously so that we can start preparing well for what’s coming,” Kangwa told the ZamFoot Crew.
“I think everyone can tell according to my performance I have been fantastic for the club, hoping to continue. In football every day is a chance to learn, and improve, it’s good everyone saw my performance for my club. It’s a motivation for me to keep working hard and keep pushing for what’s coming ahead.”
The Chipolopolo Boys will host Mauritania on Saturday at National Heroes Stadium, with kick-off time at 15:00 hours.
Tickets are on sale across Shoprite outlets via Computicket and are pegged at K30 (North and South wings), K50 (East Wing), K75 (West Wing), and K250 (VIP).
do us proud boys thanks for the words PD
It’s not the players who have put the Chipolopolo in this position. It’s inability of the technical team to spray the net wider . Please young Daka kindly stop accusing yourself
It’s not the players who have put the Chipolopolo in this position. It’s inability of the technical team to spray the net wider . Please young Daka kindly stop accusing yourself
There is a saying in the IT world which gied like this..Trash in Trash out…! BC can’t get it right because he continues playing s team with no B or even C plan. How many times will he be told that Zambian players are not adapted to playing slow build up soccer? That style require mungslato which they dont have. Too much time on the ball only leads to loss of possession. Zambia needs to keep the ball moving among players at a great pace and the results will show. No defender should cross the centre line and no striker should drop below tbec centre line. That is for the mid field!
Football doesn’t change, find our game. We used to play like hunters. Mighty had a way of playing- quick breaks, Roan United was trying clever things, Nkana was powerful and had control, Konkola was smart. City of Lusaka was proud and they looked the copperbelt sides in the eye as they lost. Power dynamos was the pretender to the thrown, Nkwazi huffed and puffed…it always came together in the national team..we where big boys.
We had 17 yrs unbeaten run at independence stadium.
Always remember my brothers that in whatever you are doing,you are carrying the 18 million zambian and that should be your driving force,we are so proud of you.
Keep the fire burning
The boys have redeemed themselves 4 – 0 in the Mauritania game is a good result, though E. guinea has advanced further to 10 points after the Tunisia game.
THE LEGEND