Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) Communications Manager, Sydney Mungala, says the Chipolopolo boys have no injury concerns ahead of their opening Group F encounter against the Democratic Republic of Congo at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast.
Mungala has assured that the players in the squad are medically fit and are preparing well for the match.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS Sports, Mungala said the team has already undergone the pre-match formalities that include medicals.
“For now everything is okay and the team is medically fit and so we are hoping we can have a good opening match on Wednesday against Congo DR,” he said.
Mungala said the technical team is expecting the squad to be ready for the match on Wednesday.
“The technical bench is expecting that going into the first game with Congo they will be ready, the team is housed at the Site CAN which is the tournament village where the other two teams namely Congo DR and also Tanzania are, Morocco is at a different facility at their own cost,” he said.
Mungala said the team is determined to make an impact at their first tournament after missing out on the least three editions.
He said the squad has had a feel of the training facility at the Lycee Moderne Lucien Yebarth in San Pedro, which is in perfect condition.
“The training facility is in perfect condition and the players were actually enjoying their training during that session,” Mungala said.
The FAZ Communications Manager urged fans to support the team.
Mungala pointed out that the team has been to various continental tournaments at different levels aside from the senior AFCON showpiece.
“They have won the AFCON at Under 20 level in 2017. They’ve played at the AFCON at Under 23 level in 2019, so one of the missing pieces was the AFCON main and we believe that all the efforts that we have done to just help prepare the team, point to giving the team the best possible preparatory mode,” he said.
The Avram Grant coached side will face DR Congo on Wednesday at the Laurent Pokou Stadium at 22 hours Zambian time in their opening Group F fixture with the second game against Tanzania four days later.
Zambia’s final group match will be against Morocco on January 24.
