By MICHAEL MIYOBA
THE Zambia national futsal team has moved two steps up on the Africa rankings table to occupy seventh position.
The latest development comes after Zambia won the 2023 September Cup Poreč in Croatia by winning two out of three games.
Zambia beat Montenegro 5-1 in the first game at the tournament in Croatia before beating San Marino 4-1 to win the international futsal championship.
Zambia is behind African Champions Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Angola Mozambique and South Africa while Zimbabwe Tunisia and Algeria complete the top ten on the continental rankings.
“This is very exciting news for our team. This is what we have been pushing for and we are happy that our hard work in Croatia has paid off,” national coach Cristoforetti said.
He said Zambia will fight to join the giants of the continent in top five.
Asked if he was disappointed with the team’s positioning on the global rankings, Cristoforetti said; “Not really disappointed because we haven’t been taking part in international tournaments since the Covid-19 broke out so it is not something which is shocking but as things return to normal after a long time, I’m sure we will claim our right position soon.”
On the global rankings dominated by Brazil, Zambia finds itself on 92nd position while Morocco is the only team in Africa in the top ten where they occupy eighth position.
Meanwhile, the futsal squad will today begin the four-team international futsal championship in Italy with a match against Celano Futsal Club before taking on CUS L’Aquila Futsal Club in the second match.
After getting a win and a draw against Sulmona and Pescala Futsal Clubs in two friendly matches in Italy before the four-team tournament, Zambia will end their successful European tour with a match against Avezzano Futsal Club.
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