The Zambia national team will this evening look to progress to the semifinals of the ongoing 2020 African Championship of Nations, (CHAN) tournament when they square off with the defending Champions Morocco in a quarter-final clash.
Zambia progressed to the quarter-finals after finishing second in Group D after amassing five points with a win and two draws while the Atlas Lions finished top of Group C with seven points to their name. Zambia has managed to score three goals in the group stage and allowing just one while their opponents have scored double that and allowed two goals.
Chipolopolo boss Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic will be hoping his star midfielder Collins Sikombe can continue with his current form having scored a goal, assisted one, and has been named man of the match twice in three games.
Apart from Sikombe, Micho will be banking on the likes of Kelvin Mubanga Kampamba, Emmanuel Chabula, and Moses Phiri to finally come to the party.
Power Dynamos wing wizard Spencer Sautu has been used as a game-changer so far in the tournament and it will be interesting to see if he will again start from the bench or make the starting lineup finally as many soccer fans have asked for.
CHAN RECORD
Zambia’s best ranking at the tournament aimed at giving locally-based players a chance to shine was a third-place finish in 2009 at the inaugural tournament in Ivory Coast led by Given Singuluma on the pitch with five goals and Herve Renard on the touchline.
In 2016 and 2018 Zambia reached the quarter-finals losing to Guinea (on post-match penalties) and Sudan via a 1-0 scoreline respectively.
MOROCCO AND THEIR KEY PLAYERS
Morocco on the other hand had their best run at the continental football showpiece in 2018 when they won it with prolific Ayoub El Kaabi scoring a record nine goals on the road to lifting the title.
El Kaabi is part of the set up this year again but he has only managed a single goal so far but that should not fool anyone as he is a proven striker that the Adrian Chama led defense will need to watch with keen interest.
Raja Casablanca forward Soufiane Rahimi is another player that the Zambian defense should be wary of as he has two goals to his name with a 71% pass accuracy and averaging a goal every 132 minutes.
Wydad Casablanca midfield ace Yahya Jabrane is also a very influential player in the Atlas Lions set up with a goal to his name at the tournament. He is also very good in the air.
There is very little to separate the two teams in terms of previous meetings with a win apiece and a draw in three games.
Zambia and Morocco will square off this evening at the Japoma Stadium also known as the Stade omnisport de Douala (official name) which is located in the Japoma locality in Douala.
Kick-off is set at 18:00 Zambian time. The match will be broadcast live on Top star.
Let's Go Zambia, Let's Go!
The match will be live on Sports Focus on TopStar . pic.twitter.com/RuFKCyMj1X
— FAZ (@FAZFootball) January 30, 2021
