Zambia U20 coach Chisi Mbewe has described Friday’s penultimate Group C match at the 2023 AFCON in Egypt as a must-win.
Young Chipolopolo started their campaign on Tuesday with a modest display to earn a 1-1 draw against Benin in a match Zambia rallied from one down early in the second half to clinch a point.
Zambia now faces Gambia who leads Group C after beating Tunisia 1-0 in Tuesday’s early kickoff.
“Yes, it is not going to be an easy game but the most important thing is at least we came from a draw and they won their first match,” Chisi said.
“We are also looking for a win and they are also looking for a win but the most important thing is we must be able to compete and collect maximum points.”
Zambia needs a win to take into Monday’s final Group C game against Tunisia with pressure on them to replicate the 2017 U20 AFCON winning team on home soil.
The big prize in Egypt is qualifying for May’s FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia.
The entire semifinalist at the three-group, twelve-team tournament will qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup.
“They know what is at stake we have been working in training on the areas that we did not do well in the Benin game,” Chisi said.
“Coming into this game we are confident, we know what we want, we know the goals that we want to achieve.”
