Chipolopolo coach Aggrey Chiyangi has said that Zambia can pull through Group H and qualify to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations if the players approach the fixtures with a positive mind.
Chiyangi was reacting to the Africa Cup of Nations 2021 draws that were unveiled last week were the Chipolopolo Boys were drawn in Group H alongside AFCON 2019 winners Algeria, Cosafa rivals Zimbabwe and 2019 COSAFA finalists Botswana.
Chiyangi believes that Zambia can qualify to the AFCON having missed the last two editions of the prestigious competition. He said ZamFoot that the team was in place already that can compete favorably to qualify.
“For now what I can say is that we already have a team in place. What we need is to just tell them what we want. This one we have to be serious and make sure we qualify. Everyone who has to come into camp has to come with a positive mind, ” he said.
Chiyangi, who took over from Sven Vandenbrook in March has had a mixture of good fortune with the national team, guiding the Chipolopolo in four matches and in the process bagging the COSAFA title that had eluded Zambia since 2013.
The Green Eagles coach has also thanked his club’s management for giving him the opportunity to be part of the national team technical bench alongside Zanaco coach Numba Mumamba who was drilling the CHAN squad in the absence of Chiyangi who was in Rwanda at the Cecafa Cup where he guided his team to Bronze.
” I would like to thank the Green Eagles Management for allowing me to be part of the national team.”
Zambia has been to the Africa Cup seventeen times despite missing the last two showpieces, while current champions have made it to the tournament 18 times. Zambia’s most recent meeting against the North African side was during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, where Chipolopolo triumphed home and away with a 4-1 aggregate in the two encounters.
Zimbabwe had qualified to the 2019 AFCON and will be looking to making a return and make amends for the poor showing that they exhibited in Egypt that was overshadowed by the protests over unpaid allowances.
Botswana has only been to the AFCON once (2012) and will be looking to cause upsets in the group despite being the lowest-ranked nation in the group.
An apology and self imposed life ban can do for the 2 qualifying misses.