By MICHAEL MIYOBA and MUKWIMA CHILALA
ZAMBIA coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic says he is still having sleepless nights together with his technical bench because of the million challenges facing the national team as they prepare for the CHAN tournament and the AFCON qualifiers next month.
Speaking after a shaky Chipolopolo comprising local stars doused the Flames of Malawi 1-0 in yesterday’s friendly at National Heroes Stadium, “Micho” said the players are far from being ready as individuals. ”Micho” however believes that with the players at his disposal, God will recognise and reward the Chipolopolo to achieve their set objectives. The Serbian is happy that the Chipolopolo beat a very strong Malawian side without conceding a goal. ”Micho” was however dissatisfied that his team missed a lot of chances especially in the first half. “We have played against a very experienced side with a lot of good professional players and I’m proud that we got a goal despite having missed a lot of chances. “I’m happy that we have done very well defensively though we need to improve on defending set pieces. I’m happy because we didn’t concede a goal though we are not happy the way we transformed when we had the ball I’m not happy with our open play system,” “Micho” said. Meanwhile Malawian coach Meck Mwase expressed disappointment that his charges with six professional stars from the South African premier league lost. ”I’m not really impressed with the way the players played though we knew as we were preparing that it would be tough playing Zambia. “We are happy Zambia gave us a good game and we will see where we need to improve when we go back home,” Mwase said. Zambia’s goal was thanks to NAPSA Stars midfielder Collins Sikombe’s 14th minute strike as the Chipoloplo started i’s series of international friendly matches on a positive note. Zambia will now focus attention to the remaining two friendly fixtures against Kenya and South Africa to be played tomorrow and Sunday respectively.
Shaky Chipolopolo douse Flames
