Friday, March 29, 2024

Chipolopolo may camp in Europe ahead of Naija clash

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FAZ President Andrew kamanga at a media briefing at Football House
FAZ President Andrew kamanga at a media briefing at Football House
FAZ President Andrew Kamanga says the Chipolopolo boys may camp in Europe ahead of the must win October 7 Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup encounter against Nigeria.

Kamanga told Fazfootball.com that 2017 had so far been an exciting year on the soccer calendar with national teams across the stream delivering results.

“We have only got four weeks before the Nigeria game, so we are looking at options in terms of where we can camp the team and get the best value. As you know some of the players are already in Europe, they did not come with us they have gone back. We may see it fit to camp the team in Europe so that it is easier to prepare the team adequately and it is actually shorter to go into Europe from Nigeria,” Kamanga said.

The FAZ boss said that Zambia could draw motivation from being the only team in Group B that had never been to the World Cup.

“We are putting in every effort to make sure that this team is adequately prepared as we face Nigeria, which for me is the do or die game whoever wins that game will be assured of going to Russia 2018,” he said.

“But most interestingly in this group, we are the only ones who have never been to the World Cup, but with the favour we continue to draw on we should be able to qualify, come November because we have the advantage of playing Cameroun in the final round.”

He added: “So the must win game is Nigeria, and I think the team has demonstrated the capacity to win away from home. It was not an easy game, Algeria is a highly rated team, they have got a lot of skillful players and I think our team was up to the task and I think they put in a marvellous performance.”

He hailed the blend of experienced players from the 2012 Africa Cup winning side, local players that campaigned at the Cosafa and also the CHAN group and under-20 stars that gelled to see off Algeria over two legs.

“Hats off to the technical bench, we have had issues around player selection but now I think the coach was really spoilt for selection and I think we have now raised the level of competition for the senior national team because the players from the under-20 are also knocking,” he said.

“We have blended the team with players from the CHAN, Cosafa as well as those playing in Europe so it is a very good mix. There are players who are still there I think Stoppilla Sunzu, Chisamba Lungu and Kennedy Mweene who has done a fantastic job to take the younger ones under his wing.”

Kamanga said that 2017 was proving a successful year on the football calendar.
“This year has been a very exciting year looking at the results that we have achieved, starting with the U-20 who won the Africa Cup and went to compete at the World Cup where they finished in the quarter final. The senior team also finished second in the Cosafa, qualified to the CHAN and we had the U-17 finishing as Cosafa champions,” he said.
“The senior team in earnest has done very well in this stage of the World Cup qualifiers, we are just three points behind Nigeria with two games to go.

The Chipolopolo will be away in Uyo to table toppers Nigeria in a Group B encounter.

Nigeria has 10 points while second placed Zambia has seven points with Cameroun lying third with three points while Algeria are rock bottom with a point.

16 COMMENTS

  1. How come you camp in europe when the game is in West Africa? This does not make sense unless you want to go for window shopping in europe than practising and focus on the very important game of your country’s history. Does any of these morons know how to read weather? I have seen the out cry from whole alot . Faz is run by people who have zero knowledge about the sport. Someone neeed to interven before shiiit hit the fan

  2. So what is the difference between training here and training in Europe? I have seen European teams going to Africa and Middle east for warm weather training because it is good for the muscles…….but I have not seen this happening the other way round.

    • @Soccer fan: There several differences between training here and in Europe:-
      1. Its a moral booster to the boys and the technical team
      2. The players will concentrate unlike here where their girls friends will be calling asking for money
      3. Its also conducive environment for training
      4. Many more

      Let the team camp there

    • @Kamuzu we need to tackle this belief that being in Europe is better than where you are right now. This is what is causing hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants to due at sea. If camping in Europe is meant to keep the players away from their girlfriends then it means the team can also camp in Zimbabwe

  3. The previous speaker is very right, i thank your reasoning, traing requires warm weather for the betterment of the muscles, lets do one thing at a time. Put leisure aside and the right thing at the right time

  4. This stupidity never ceases how can you surely camp in Europe where it mild when you are playing a fellow African team? What a bunch of reckless dunderheads…its no wonder you are short changed by your sponsors and hardly nothing trickles down to the clubs.
    No wonder this organisation will never be self reliant…i hope the govt is brave enough to say no to using taxpayers funds for this organisations luxuries!!

  5. Camp them anywhere but not Zambia and the sooner the better. They need a lot of time together to work on the loopholes they have have in the team, the Nigerian Match will be tough as well!!

  6. I guess they want to take advantage of advanced training equipment, techniques and technical support by hosts such as psychologists. It might just do the trick. They could still spend the last week somewhere in West Africa.

  7. If Zambia was going straight to Russia for the tournament after camping in Europe then it would be worth an idea. At the moment, it’s just one game with Nigeria and it’s not long from now, so it is not a brilliant plan. The team needs to stay put and continue to prepare the same way they have done up to this stage of the qualifiers. Doing anything different will just be a distraction. The last thing players need is change to their daily routines. Let them carry on with their normal day’s training until the match.

  8. The problems with us Zambiam is that we are all coaches, but there will always be one coach of our team and one President of the team.
    There is no if or but, let the boys go to Europe

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