Fri, 08 Sep 2017 14:45:28 +0000
By Grace Chaile Lesoetsa
FAZ has announced its plans to camp the Chipolopolo in Europe to prepare for the ‘do or die’ Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier encounter against Nigeria on October 7.
The announcement comes in the awake of Zambia’s double victory against Algeria in a space of three days to revive hopes of qualification.
Zambia are second placed in Group B with seven points while leaders Nigeria have 10 points.
FAZ president Andrew Kamanga in an interview said the association was considering to camp the team in Europe for adequate preparation.
Kamanga said he understood the importance of the October 7 fixture which was a must win game, therefore FAZ will not leave anything to chance.
“Six points after playing back to back games, the boys have inspired all of us. We have told the technical bench to draw a training programme for the Nigeria game. Our intention is to camp the team in Europe,” he said.
He said 2017 has been a good year for Zambia and was hopeful the Chipolopolo will qualify to Russia.
He was happy that the technical bench had finally assembled a team that can compete favourably in international engagements.
“I think the game of football is slowly and surely getting back to its glory days. FAZ is putting in every effort to ensure teams are adequately prepared for the tournament,” Kamanga said.
Meanwhile, Sports minister Moses Mawere said the national team will receive a handsome package for their good performance so far.
Mawere said government and FAZ had already discussed the issue of how they players could be motivated.
He reaffirmed government’s support towards the team during and after preparations.
Mawere said President Edgar Lungu was eager to see Zambia make a maiden World Cup appearance, therefore will not relent to support the Boys.
