FAZ complain

…as Sports minister console Chipolopolo players

MINISTER of Sports, Youth and Arts, Elvis Nkandu has urged the Chipolopolo to forget their unfortunate Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers defeat to Equatorial Guinea in Malabo and focus on the return leg fixture slated for tomorrow at National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka.

Nkandu, who flew to Malabo to cheer the Chipolopolo urged the team to focus on picking maximum points in the home fixture which will be watched by President Hakainde Hichilema.

Nkandu noted that it was sad that Zambia recorded two unfortunate defeats in the World Cup qualifiers and the 2021 Cosafa Womens championship where the Coper Queens failed to reach the finals after losing to Tanzania.

Nkandu however urged the Copper Bullets not to give up on their World Cup dream noting that everything is possible in football.

“Yes, we have lost but let us look forward to playing another game in Zambia so that we see if Equatorial Guinea can really beat this team because I don’t think so. They can’t beat us.

“The best thing we can do is to make sure that we win in Zambia because the President will also be part of the soccer fans at Heroes Stadium,” Nkandu said.

Nkandu said the environment in Malabo was not conducive for Zambia to pick maximum points because the referee was not fair in the manner he handled the game.

“We have lost and the environment itself was not so conducive. We all watched that game and from the first whistle, I talked to the president, it’s like the referee was looking for any infringement to make a very nasty decision and it came to pass. That is what happened,” Nkandu said.

He encouraged the team not to focus on what Group B leaders Tunisia were doing after they maintained a 100 percent winning record following their beating of Mauritania to move to nine points, six points ahead of the Chipolopolo who are third in Group B with three points.