African Cup of Nations Preview: Zambia

The African Cup of Nations gets underway exactly one week from today, and we have seven more teams to preview. We’ve met everyone in Group A and B, as well as Sudan from Group C yesterday. We continue Group C today with a look at Zambia.

The Chipolopolo have both a tragic and proud football history, and a coach who’s made some very very bold decisions going into this tournament. So come on in and meet Zambia.

Nickname: Chipolopolo (The Copper Bullets)

Jersey: Green shirt, white shorts, green socks (home.) Yellow shirt, green shorts, white socks (away.)

Geography: “Zambia is a landlocked country located between the southern rim of the Zaire Basin and the Zambezi River. Zambia has land borders with Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to the southeast, Botswana and Namibia to the south, Angola on the west and Zaire to the northwest.” – The Africa Guide

History: On April 27th, 1993, a plane carrying the Zambian team to Senegal for a World Cup qualification match crashed in what became known as the Gabon air disaster. All 30 people on board lost their lives, including passengers, crew, all 18 members of the Zambian squad, and the entire management team and backroom staff. Less than a year later, a Zambian team (captained by Kalusha Bwalya – pictured – who was taking a separate flight due to domestic commitments to PSV) entered the 1994 African Cup of Nations. Playing with obvious pride and in memory of those who’d been lost the team incredibly went all the way to the final, where they eventually lost 2-1 to Nigeria. The young Zambia team finished as runners-up but returned home as heroes.

Manager: Patrick Phiri isn’t French or German. He’s Zambian, making him one of the few coaches at the African Cup of Nations with the same nationality as his players.

FIFA World Ranking (December 2007): 65

Expectations: Not many neutrals expect Zambia to get past Cameroon or Egypt in Group C, but there will be a certain level of expectation back home, and coach Phiri doesn’t see Cameroon or Egypt as impossible obstacles. “Yes, yes, we are hoping we are going surprise them,” he said. “They are giants but we are hoping to surprise them. We haven’t done really well at the last tournaments but this time around we hope to do a lot better.”

Pros: Phiri must be confident in the depth of his squad. He recently dropped star striker Collins Mbesuma from his final 23, for carrying a little too much weight and veteran defensive lynch-pin Elijah Tana for failing to travel with the squad. Many players are based in the Zambian domestic league, but some still play for big South African teams or smaller European teams. Striker James Chamanga recently scored a four minute hat-trick for Moroka Swallows, while captain Chris Katongo (more on him below) is lighting up the Danish league with Brøndby. Zambia like to play attractive football and seem to have just enough attacking quality to suggest an unfit Mbesuma would have been an unnecessary extra weight.

Cons: If it all goes wrong, and against the quality of Cameroon or Egypt it easily could do, then the decision to jettison big names Mbesuma and Tana will come back to bite Phiri. He will also be without Bundesliga based Andrew Sinkala and Moses Sichone, who are both injured.

Player to Watch: Striker Chris Katongo scored a 20 minute hat-trick against South Africa in AFCON qualifying, earning the Zambians a surprise win and putting the team on the road to Ghana. His achievement was recognised by the Zambian army, who promoted him to Sergeant.

Katongo has also made a good start to life in Denmark with Brøndby IF, two of his goals below.

Team Blog? No. But if you’d like to blog about Chipolopolo then let us know and we can make it happen.

Fixtures: In Group C with Sudan, Egypt, Cameroon
Zambia vs Sudan (Kumasi, January 22nd, 19:30)
Zambia vs Cameroon (Kumasi, January 26th, 17:00)
Zambia vs Egypt (Kumasi, January 30th, 17:00)

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Kalililo Kakonje (AmaZulu), Kennedy Mweene (Free State Stars), Mike Poto (Green Buffaloes)
Defenders: William Chinyama, Clive Hachilensa (both ZESCO United), Hichani Himoonde (Lusaka Dynamos), Chintu Kampamba (Free State Stars), Francis Kasonde (Power Dynamos), Joseph Musonda, Billy Mwanza (both Lamontville Golden Arrows), Kennedy Nketani (ZANACO),
Midfielders: Ian Bakala (Primeiro Agosto), Isaac Chansa (Helsingborgs), Rainford Kalaba (ZESCO United), Felix Katongo (Petro Atletico), Clifford Mulenga (Pretoria University), William Njovu (Lusaka Dynamos)
Strikers: James Chamanga (Moroka Swallows), Christopher Katongo (Brondby), Emmanuel Mayuka (Kabwe Warriors), Jacob Mulenga (Racing Strasbourg), Felix Nsunzu (Konkola Blades), Dube Phiri (Primeiro Agosto).

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