Defending U20 AFCON champions Zambia have secured a friendly against Malawi and will camp in South Africa ahead of their 2019 U20 AFCON qualifiers.
Mumamba Numba’s side will face Malawi on May 2 in Lilongwe as warm-up ahead of next week’s 2019 first round qualifier against Rwanda.
Wednesdays friendly will be Zambia and Malawi’s second meeting in six months after drawing 0-0 in a Group A game at the 2017 COSAFA U20 Cup that Zambia hosted in Kitwe in December.
Meanwhile, Zambia will hold a one week training camp in Johannesburg just after the friendly from where they will take a direct flight to Kigali.
Zambia, who enjoyed a preliminary bye in the qualifiers as champions, will face Rwanda on May 11 in Kigali and host the latter on May 18.
Winner both legs of the second round will advance to the last qualifying stage in July to play Sudan or Burundi to decide who qualifies to next year’s Niger finals.
Zambia are aiming for a third successive U20 AFCON outing after winning it as hosts in March 2017 when they beat Senegal 2-0 in the final played in Lusaka to lift their debut junior continental title.
Malawi? Beston Chambeshi used to get high profile friendlies not against Malawi. Do not fail before you start Mumamba Numba. In place of Malawi it is better to play a selection of U20 Copperbelt based players and/or Midlands based players.