Mali national team coach Éric Sékou Chelle has named a star studded squad for this Friday and next week Monday’s back-to-back friendly matches against Zambia’s Chipolopolo boys.
The stars already in camp include nine players from the French Ligue 1, three English Premier League stars, one from the Germany Bundesliga and Serie A respectively, and players from other top European clubs with only three African based.
Some of the notable names in coach Chelle’s squad are AS Monaco’s midfielder Mohamed Camara, RB Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara, Yves BISSOUMA of Tottenham Hotspurs, Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure and Southampton FC striker Moussa Djenepo, among others.
In Africa, Chelle has summoned TP Mazembe and Young Africa goalkeepers Ibrahima Mounkoro, and Djigui Diarra as well as in-form Al Ahly SC midfielder Aliou Dieng.
The Eagles who just like Zambia did not qualify for this November’s Qatar FIFA World Cup will use this September’s international window to prepare for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers which were postponed to March next year.
Meanwhile, Zambia national team coach Aljosa Asanovic also named English Premier League stars, Enock Mwepu of Brighton and Hove Albion FC and Leicester City striker Patson Daka in his final squad for the back-to-back international friendlies with the Eagles.
Others include Rangers FC striker Fashion Sakala, Midfielders Klings Kangwa from Red Star Belgrade, Edward Chilufya from Mitdtjylland and Djurgårdens’ Emmanuel Banda, as well as Scotland-based Ayr United defender Frankie Musonda , among others.
Zambia and Mali have played each other four times with the Chipolopolo winning two and losing none as the other two meetings ended in a draw. This excludes one meeting at the African Nations Championship in 2016 which featured locally based players only for both countries and ended nil-nil.
The two last met in 2005 during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in a match that ended 2-1 in favour of Zambia after goals from Linos Chalwe and Collins Mbesuma in the 26th and 85th minutes secured victory for the home side despite Mali scoring an equalizer in the 73rd minute through Soumaïla Coulibaly.
Both coach Chelle and Asanovic will look to use the friendly matches to experiment with their new combinations in their respective teams before the AFCON qualifiers resume with the Chipolopolo also aiming to maintain their unbeaten run against the Eagles.
