Mawere hails triumphant U-20

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 11:20:08 +0000

By GRACE CHAILE-LESOETSA

THE Junior Chipolopolo performance against Guinea has elated sports Minister Moses Mawere who now
believes the team will beat Mali in its next game

Mr Mawere was speaking in an interview after the Junior Chipolopolo beat Guinea 1-0 in their under-20 Africa Cup of Nations Group A opening match at National Heroes Stadium in
Lusaka on Sunday.

“I am proud with the boys performance against Guinea and I have no doubt they will beat Mali on Wednesday,” said Mawere.

Mawere said the boys showed that they were determined to make Zambia proud.

“They have done the nation proud. The boys played their lungs out and collected the maximum points. I commend both the
players and the technical bench for the work well done,” he said.

He said Government was ready to support the team if they
qualified to the 2017 Under-20 South Korea World Cup.

“We are ready to camp the team anywhere in the World to prepare for the World Cup. The boys have indicated that they want to be camped in United Kingdom, and Government is ready to do so,” he said.

Mawere urged the team to remain focused and win
Wednesday’s game against Mali.

He thanked the fans for turning up in thousands to support the team.

“The turn up was excellent. At some point I felt a 60,000
capacity Heroes Stadium was not large enough. The fans should show the same support on Wednesday, “the minister said.

And the Chipolopolo Soccer fans association patron Yotarm Mwanza congratulated the boys for the victory.

“The boys made sure they achieved the aim of winning the first game. I have no doubt the boys confidence has grown more,” he said.

Zambia leads Group A with three points while Egypt and Mali share a point each after they two teams drew 0-0. Guinea has nil point.