Zambia U20 National Team coach Boyd Mulwanda says his team ‘just have to win’ their match against Tanzania at the ongoing TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Young Copper Bullets will face off with Tanzania in a Group A clash at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia on Tuesday (kick-off 18:00 local time / 15:00 GMT).
Mulwanda says his team is looking positive and are showing that they want to win when they face the East African Nation.
Zambia have only managed two points from their opening two group games with goalless draws against Sierra Leone and Egypt.
“I think we started preparations with the Boys for the game against Tanzania on Sunday, we did a recovery session. It’s good that there are no injury concerns and everyone looks positive. On Monday morning we had a session working on finishing and creating chances for the team to get a win, I think so far so good , the Boys are positive, they have shown that they want to win,” he said.
“It’s crucial for us, we just have to win so that we give ourselves hope to qualify to the quarter finals. I think it’s not an easy game because even Tanzania, they still believe that if they can win the last two games they have a chance to qualify which makes it tricky for us. But looking at the way the Boys are responding to training they are going to carry the day.”
Mulwanda says the team has been working on finishing after creating chances in their opening two games which they failed to convert.
In their opening match against Sierra Leone, Zambia had four shots on target; they failed to register a shot on target in their second game against Egypt.
The match against Egypt marked the first time in their last three tournament appearances that Zambia failed to register a shot on target.
“We have told the Boys that let’s go and fight and win this match. It won’t be easy, it will be a tough game, even Tanzania like I have said, they believe if they can win the last two games they are going to qualify, so that makes it difficult for us, we just have to try and work hard and win that game,” he said.
“That’s what we did on Monday morning trying to convert all the chances that we created. The positive thing with the Boys is that at least in every game we have played we created chances which gives us hope that if we can convert those chances we are likely to win the match,” he added.
After their winless run at the last edition Mulwanda wants the team to win their next two games and progress to the quarter finals.
“Football is a game of pressure. Pressure is there for us to also try and see what we can do and deliver to what the people are expecting at home. We just have to win the match. We came last edition, we did not win a game, this time we have played two games and we have not won a match. I think we need to win two games to be safe and give the boys morale to push ahead,” he said.
“I think they are in a hurry to score, they are not even sharing the opportunities to give the player in a better position. If you check the game we played against Egypt there was a big chance we had in the last minute of the game, if Bonafeso had just given it to Pascol or Chilimina because we were facing the goal it was going to be an easy goal for us. I think there is also pressure for the Boys, they want to show that they can get the goals for their friends.”
Zambia are winless in their last five games at the U20 Africa Cup of Nations with three draws and two losses.
