Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) President Kalusha Bwalya says he is surprised to see the Chipolopolo boys reach the finals of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
Kalusha has told the BBC that it’s important that the Chipolopolo boys do well in the finals on Sunday both for themselves and also to mark the death of Twenty five Zambian players and officials who died in an air crash off the Gabonese coast in 1993.
And Kalusha Bwalya has saluted Zambia’s attacking trio of Christopher Katongo, Rainford Kalaba and Emmanuel Mayuka for inspiring the team to Sunday’s Africa Nations Cup final.
Bwalya told SuperSport.com in Libreville on Thursday that the trio had epitomised Zambia’s football adventure at this year’s Africa Cup tournament.
“Christopher Katongo is doing a fantastic job; Rainford is there too, Mayuka is getting the goals and we have two players on three goals each,”Kalusha said.
“And we also have (defender) Stopilla Sunzu coming from behind to score a header.”
Strikers Katongo and Mayuka are both in line for the Africa Cup golden boot award on three goals each heading into Sunday’s final against Ivory Coast in Libreville.
Midfielder Kalaba has been Zambia’s engine since the tournament began for them on January 21 in Bata despite scoring just one goal in five games heading into the final.
Bwalya said it was a great moment to see his successors take Zambia to the Africa Cup finals for the first time since 1994 when they finished second to Nigeria.
“I told the boys; you guys can score goals and enjoy the adventure and see what we can get. It is a proud moment for me,”Kalusha said.
QFM
This is another moron Kalusha. How do you tell your Son that I am surprised you passed the exam? I now understand why we have never worn the Africa Cup.
Lol
I am surprised ? My foot ! Ngatumukwete ifyakulanda mwaikalafye yama.The statement doesn`t show that he has confidence in the team.I ma sure deep down his heart he is still thinking all the wins were flukes.
I am surprised ? My foot ! Ngatumukwete ifyakulanda mwaikalafye yama.The statement doesn`t show that he has confidence in the team.I ma sure deep down his heart he is still thinking all the wins were flukes
What about the goalkeeper Mwene who saved the penalty and all the other Ghanian shots? Don’t mention names because Zambia’s win against Ghana was team work, what if Mwene allowed all those shots to go in, whom would you be praising? Empty head, just shut up if you have nothing to say, actually you have overstayed at FAZ, its time you left. Abasungu balikufulunganya umutwe, tawikala napa Zed.
Wow, now that would be demoralising for a team, when your leader tells others he is surprised at your achievements, that will just reverberate into the team knowing that he has never had faith in them all along, what a prick for saying that to journalists.
Annoying and a great insult to the nation and the team. Did Kalusha think he was the only one who would take the team and country to greater heights. Shame on you ba kalusha. Go Zambia Go Chipolopolo.
THE GUY IS JUS JEALOUS HE THINKS HE’S THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD DELIVER AND HE IS WORRIED THE YOUNG LADS WILL OVER SHADOW HES PAST ACHIEVEMENTS AND HE WILL BECOME HISTORY. HONESTLY, A LEADER WONT SPEAK LIKE THAT OF HIS SOLDIERS IN BATTLE…..
before anyone condems….they have misquoted him. LT dont just copy and paste. HE NEVER said that he’s surprised
But Kalusha zoona. Thats why his ending to his career was disastrous (POOR FININSHING). penalty miss against Angola. You should have reserved your sickening words until after sunday when we wrap the AfCON trophy in the Zambian flag. This is the worst statement i have heard from you in your footballing career. Instead of you rallying your troops to the battlefront against the Elephants on sunday when the battle is hottest, you go over your bald head and start speakin failure in the face of success. A WARNING TO YOU. YOUR WORDS OF NO TASTE SHALL HAVE NO PORTION IN MY CHIPOLOPOLO BECAUSE MY GOD LIVES AND HE REIGNS ETERNALLY!!!!!
I’m not surprised ine ba Kalu
ummmm, kalu did this interview with supersport and NOT bbc. No where in the interview did he ever say that he is surprised.
Kalu chose words carefully. U opening a Pandora Box so twalachipandula chi BOX.
Kalu this is insulting, what do you mean? So you thought there are no other Zambians who can achieve better than you in football, I pray the boys win so that you choke with envy, you are a sore loser mambala, ukafume namu FAZ what retrogressive thinking. Go Chipolopolo, gun down those elephants!
inferiority complex Ba Galu. May be chisungu chacishupa. I hope they boys do not take it to heart and lose on Sunday but I have all the trust in Herve Renard to motivate the boys. When are FAZ elections?
Kalu is just doing a donchi kubeba..he will speak more after the final.
i’m so surprised by the mindset in Zambia. How can we have 11 rubbish comments. imwe abanthi, imitwe shenu shilikwisa? jealous people – even when Kalu means well! shame
Whats up with you people do not read too much into things> in all honesty he is not the only 1 who is surprised Zambia have come so Far we played some good football but there was always that fear that if we came across a free scoring or much more goal ruthless team we would get hit… Lets not pretend we expected this most saw the draws to the build up and lost hope just like Katongo said himself “people thought we couldnt do it coz of the draws in the friedlies”… They have done well we all give rcedit where its due God has seen us through as a united team and sport seems to alway unit the Zambian people lets give thanks and receive the blessings and not pretend kalu has not said anything wrong
He said the boys surprised themselves. Please be professional and tell the truth. How will he be surprised while I knew what he wants for this team. Listen to the video again. You can be sued for libel.
pipo ready the article properly..where does Kalu he is surprised. Apart from the opening paragraph(courtesy of LT),Kalusha is full of praise 4 the boys..look at his quotes..I feel the heading for the article is wrong..All Kalu is doing is praising the team and offering technical advise…The only mistake is praising individual players. Everyone worked hard..but for me Mweene did the job..
kalushas comments are genuine. Dont pretend. Everyone is suprised that they have reached the finals. Bloggers think with brains
we are surprised yes, but timing is very important especially for a guy in his position. psychology is very important. he must pretend zambia is ruthless and they will devour IC like nothing, and you will see that before drogba goes on the pitch those guys will have lost the game because they wont know whats coming.
I am not surprised we have reached the final. Please people from Copper belt, Do not come to Lusaka to welcome the Cup. Last time you did that in 1993 you never went back. The government will bring the Cup to the Copperbelt.
kci, love this xaxaxa)))))
you have made my day! :)
lolzzzz…..thats some funny eish!!!!!!
I hope he meant he was pleasantly surprised. There are no guarantees no matter how good you are ( or reputed to be just ask Senegal). I like Kalusha but I find his statement disappointing if it is true.
I totally agree with Kalu because our preps were not all that good. It shocked me too.
he should have used bemba to explain what he really means, ba kalu and English are not too close…!!
The simple reasons Zambia has not been performing well are all psychological. Now we have a burst of genuine optimism and this fo=ol and misleader goes and puts his foot in it???!!!???? He should suffering from “THE ONLY ONE” syndrome. Wake up Kalu – Zambia is way bigger than the little things in your small mind
So what was he expecting then? We get booted out in the first round? Scum!
Great Kalu, i was also suprised to see chipolopolo boys in the final, any way lets wait and see what will happen on sunday. Kalusha you have done a lot for Zambia, and u people saying all those rubish about Kalu must first of all riflect don’t flap up your lips any how. Kalu i love u and there’s non other prayer in Zambia that has played like u did. All i hv 2 say is thankyuo. If he has made a mistake just corect him than insulting him.
Am with you dude,all day Great Kalu…let them haters say whatever…..
What a statement from a leader sure mwebantu
I am surprised ? My foot ! Ngatumukwete ifyakulanda mwaikalafye yama.The statement doesn`t show that he has confidence in the team.I ma sure deep down his heart he is still thinking all the wins were flukes..
‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond imagination. It is our light more than our darkness which scares us. We ask ourselves – who are we to be brilliant, beautiful, talented, and fabulous.
But honestly, who are you to not be so?
From the terraces, I am afraid the boys have supprised not just Kalusha but the Coach too. I was so upset when HR told journalists at the beginning that his aim was to reach the quarter finals and cited Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senagal as favourites without thinking why he was there with his team. Such trash should come from spectators not a coach let alone the FA President.Shame!
My husband ulupala too much. Anyway I will have you even with half a head of hair
Please bloggers bear with Kalusha, his problem is his level of education, he should be speaking in vernacular.
Kalu is more educated than you are. He is a great administrator and the result is there.
Kalusha is wallowing in his own shadow. yes he might have been among those who took Zambia to the finals in 1994, but he shouldn’t think he did it alone. Now the young lads will eclipse his ka history and Mayuka or Chris Katongo may be the ones to to do so!!
I just surprised that Kalusha is surprised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am just surprised that Kalusha is surprised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FAZ leadership doing well.ya viva great kalu
IT IS TEME FOR ZAMBIA TO SMILE!
Surprised my foot? Hope it has nothing to do with upkeep & allowances.
PROUD MOMENT INDEED, KALUSHA. THESE BOYS ARE GIVING ONE MORE REASON TO BE PROUD OF BEING ZAMBIAN – WE BRING SENSATION AND GLAMOUR TO AFRICAN SOCCER.
Kalusha Bwalya didn’t say that. LT is lying.
Ici icatumpa cimushota … You know how Zambia has not been doing well for years, haters! Why can’t this surprise you?
Kci . 1Kalusha must have meant, “shocked.” English ni second language.
PLEASE PEOPLE, LET US LEAVE GREAT KALU ALONE. GREAT KALU …. FOREVER, VIVA GREAT KALU, AND VIVA FAZ ……… VIVA CHIPOLOPOLO ……. AND GREAT MIGHTY MUFULIRA WANDERERS…..
If Kalu said he is surprised he is being honest. I’m equally surprised. We all are, aren’t we? It’s such a pleasant dream where you keep pinching yourself to make sure you are awake and the dream is going and on. For other teams like Ivory Coast people expected them to be there. But for us it’s a special moment coz our boys have made our dreams come true. So let’s stop the hating and cherish the moment
Kalusha is speaking for himself you haters. Lyonse ku ponta, after all most of you same ones insulting must have been against Kalu’s decision to bring Renard back.
imwe please spare Great kalu, lets focus on encouraging words for our team to WIN…..right now Drogba and Gervinho are FRIEGHTENED at realising that MWEENE will CATCH and STOP ALL their SHOTS, and he is their greatest threat right now…..because while that will be happening OUR SHOTS at their net will ENTER….IT”S A GOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL
but ba LT…where in yo copy nd paste story is it mentioned tht Kalu is surprised? Dont mislead the abantu with your headins..
Zoona baice,
mwansepa, naumfwa jealous
ba zambia ba figili nka micaila iya ku chelsea mukamona, noti ukuyalala kumanda before the game
l sincerely apologise for my stupidity, l’m just a jealous bitch
Yakakana nick has dumped me for his boyfriend , who has a degree in masters
No. 44, As a manager at this stage of competition Kalu is not supposed to say that, all he should say is ‘ l know they can do it ‘ Managerial skills palibe
Where did you do your management? On the internet? Kalu is not a manager. The manager is Renard. Kalu is the chief adminstrator. He has a managing coach, a technical bench including psychologists speaking to the team. Stop wanting to impress with the little you have googled
Why get offended so easily? The statement was probably taken out of context. It’s a pleasant surprise for all of us. Stop with the negative energy. If you want to start pointing fingures, how ’bout pointing at the Minister of Health for saying NOTHING about the way those prostitutes offered free sex = STD’s in celebration of Zambia’s achievements? Now that’s worth pointing fingures in my opinion.
CHIPOLOPOLO Iyeeee……Chipolopolo iyee,Go ZAMBIA …GO\:d/\:d/
The hatred in this country is sickening, surely even after the “comments” have been clarified we still pass st.u.pid comments on Kalu? Sorry guys, you have to swallow it, Kalu is at the helm of our soccer and HE more than any POLITICIAN deserves the credit for this feat. HE and the CHIPOLOPOLO remained focussed on our soccer inspite of the turmoil that some foxes attempted to create in our game last year. Thanks also to FIFA for their intervention.
Talking against kalu. You are just wasting your time. God is on his side.
Zambia ohe! chipolopolo boys ohe! MALAWI IS BEHIND YOU
Stop finger pointing at each other and pray for zambia to bring Africa cup for the first time ok guys
People (especially #1 up to 13 or thereabouts) stop wanting to reap where you haven’t sown. KCI you are telling sh*t lies. None of you expressed any hope in Chipolopolo. The blogs were filled with people stating that Zambia would not go anywhere. In fact me who lives in SA was surprised at Kalu’s confidence in media reports despite the boys not doing so well in warm up matches. On Lusaka Times nearly everyone was dooming them to a first round exit. Iam really amazed at your slyness coming out of the woodwork after Kalu’s successes are in the open to claim you knew more than him about Zambia’s stellar performance! Atase! Ubufi. We aren’t fools we can see who has done what. Great Kalu Forever!
but mula Concluda
You hater stop bubling. You are filled with hate. Leave kalu alone. He has always ment well for zambian soccer. Viva kalu and may God bless you son of our land Zambia.
Chachine #1 to #12 are a case of wanting to claim someone’s victory as yours. Great Kalu has been great at AFCON
no 1 ..wamnisekesa..hahaha..kalu..that was poor..what you could have said was i knew we could get there!!
LT please be acurate to avoid such speculations on great pipo like kalu,they command respect not only in africa but in the world.
all haters of Kalu,Renhard and the team have been put to shame.
I’ve received a coplue of responses from alumni of ours. They’re reasoning for attending multiple places when they were in college were simply social. CCH was my homebase, but I had friends who went to Cru or BSU. So, I would go there with them.