AFCON preps start now 

…Comoros match not dead rubber Kamanga says as Chipolopolo regroups 

By MICHAEL MIYOBA 

THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) says the Chipolopolo will immediately commence preparations for the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations as the team regroups ahead of the last AFCON qualifier match against Comoros.

The Chipolopolo boys regrouped yesterday ahead of the September 9 Group H fixture against Comoros.

After booking a spot at the next AFCON to be hosted by Ivory Coast, the Chipolopolo boys led by coach Avram Grant will face Comoros on Saturday in a fixture which most fans are calling a dead rubber match in Comoros. 

However, FAZ president Andrew Kamanga said the Association has no intention of treating the game against Comoros as dead rubber despite the Chipolopolo having qualified for the football showpiece in Ivory Coast with a game to spare.

Kamanga said the match against Comoros gives the Chipolopolo boys the opportunity to build and sustain a winning mentality.

“We have no intentions of treating this Saturday’s final qualifier against Comoros as a dead rubber. We are treating it as competitively as any fixture and the technical bench has not disappointed in naming a full-strength squad. Our aim is to ensure that the team sustains a winning mentality,” Kamanga said.

“Preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations begin now. Having already qualified for the tournament we want to end the qualifiers on top of our group and ensure that we improve our global ranking through good performance,” the FAZ Chief stated.

On the FIFA World Cup set to kick off in November with Zambia scheduled to face Congo Brazzaville and Niger, Kamanga said; “We are grappling with the issue of banned stadia by CAF but are actively engaging the continental body on the possibility of fixing our stadia to make them able to host international matches.”

Kamanga said he was encouraged by the efforts that government has put in place to ensure that the sticky points are addressed before the final list of stadia is announced by CAF.

“It is not an easy undertaking, but we are working closely with government who are the owners of the stadia to ensure that they are upgraded to acceptable levels. We remain confident that the stadia will be worked on in time to be approved by CAF,” Kamanga said. 

He disclosed that a team of government and FAZ officials is on the ground ensuring that they address the identified problematic areas by CAF. 

Meanwhile, Kamanga said FAZ is keeping tabs on Green Buffaloes campaign at the ongoing COSAFA Championship in South Africa where the Zambian Champions qualified to the knock out stage after beating Lesotho Defence Forces (LDF) by 2-1.

Kamanga said Green Buffaloes success at the tournament in Durban will be critical in sustaining Zambia’s women football revolution.

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