Don’t rush for glory

Sat, 15 Oct 2016 10:57:29 +0000

…As FAZ advised to plan well for AfCON and World Cup
THE Chipolopolo technical bench should focus on building a future team and not rush for glory, says football administrator Damiano Mutale. Mutale, proprietor of Damiano Football Academy said in an interview yesterday that the national team technical bench should put up a workable plan that would see Zambia qualify to the next editions of the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup. He said it was a well-known fact that Zambia’s qualification to the Russia 2018 World Cup was dependent on a miracle because the nation has no formidable squad.

He said with the current technical staff and good planning, Zambia could produce a brilliant performance in the next two to three years. “The technical bench needs to come up with a programme to build a new team rather than rushing for glory. I know there was a pronouncement of Zambia beating Cameroon in November, but that is an uphill battle looking at our current squad. We are not able to beat Cameroon at their back yard, or qualifying to the world cup unless a miracle happens, “I feel the focus should be to build a new team, you have to build first and not the glory.

They need to build a strong side that can perform well in the next editions of the AFCON or World Cup,” he said. Mutale said coach Wedson Nyirenda and his team required the support of every Zambian if the Chipolopolo had to revive the past glory. He said the standards of football had gone down and it could not take a single person to change the status quo of the game. “Zambia has to claim the 2019 AFCON title and that is possible if planning starts now. We need to plan ahead. It took four years to build the team that won the 2012 African title, and we can still do,” he said. Mutale commended Nyirenda for apologizing to President Edgar Lungu and the nation for failing to beat Nigeria last Sunday at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola. Zambia lost 1-2 to Nigeria in the opening Group B World Cup qualifying series. The Chipolopolo lie bottom in the group without a point while Algeria and Cameroon share a point each as Nigeria leads with three points.