‘WE AREN’T SCARED’
…Chipolopolo players not worried about Elephants
CHIPOLOPOLO players summoned by national team coach Aljosa Asanovic ahead of the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers have expressed confidence in the squad’s ability to overcome their group H rivals to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations after missing the last three editions.
Zambia will play Comoros, Lesotho and 2023 AFCON hosts Ivory Coast in Group H of the qualifiers set to kick off next month.
In an interview, Zesco United midfielder, Spenser Sautu said the team is not intimidated by the prospects of facing the Elephants who will be seeking revenge when they meet Zambia who defeated them at the 2012 AFCON finals.
“We cannot be intimidated because in football anything is possible, so it just depends on who wants it more and for us we will keep fighting. Yes, Ivory Coast is not a push over it is one of the best teams in Africa so for us that will give us more motivation to fight as a team,” Sautu said.
Asked what the Chipolopolo will have to do not to mess up their chances of qualifying for the Africa Cup, Sautu said; “We have to work more than we did in the previous qualifiers to make it this time. In the previous qualifiers, we messed up with our home games, so we just have to win all our home games in the qualifiers so that as we go forward we can try to win one away game which can be a bonus.”
Meanwhile, Chipolopolo defender Benedict Chepeshi said meeting Ivory Coast in the first game of the qualifiers will inspire the Chipolopolo to fight for the best result to protect their reputation as former African champions who managed to beat the Elephants to win the AFCON in 2012.
The Red Arrows defender urged Chipolopolo fans to support the team as it aims to qualify for the AFCON.
Chepeshi noted that their aim is to beat Ivory Coast away to inspire the fans to turn up in large numbers for the home game against Comoros.
Zambia will face Ivory Coast on June 3 before hosting Comoros four days later at National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka.