Zambia’s under-17 men’s national team coach Ian Bakala says belonging to a Super League team is no guarantee that a player will make his final team ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) set for Morocco in March.
The young Chipolopolo qualified for the continental showpiece after reaching the Council of Southern African Football (COSAFA) final under-17 in South Africa last year.
The tournament will be held from 30 March to 19 April 2025. All eight quarter-finalists will qualify as CAF representatives for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.
Bakala has called the bulk of the team that played at the COSAFA for residential camp, with some players coming from top Super League clubs while others are from academies.
In an interview yesterday, Bakala said his selection for the final team will be on merit and not past glory or the reputation of the club the player is coming from.
“It [working hard] has to come from them; yes, they may be coming from the premiership [Super League]… I have seen good players who have just come in; even them, they have to fight.
“They are coming from different backgrounds and clubs, but once they are here, it is not about the name of where he is coming from but it is about himself [as a player]; it is about the country and we want results,” Bakala said.
Super League players can be left out- Bakala
He said if Super League players are not doing well during training, his technical bench will look the other way.
“If he [a Super League player] is not doing well, then we have to consider someone who is doing well even if that player is playing in the lower division,” he said.
Zambia will be looking to go past the group stage and probably qualify for the FIFA World Cup having failed to meet that target at the previous edition.
This will be Zambia’s second straight appearance at the Junior AfCON, having also played at the 2023 edition in Algeria, where they finished bottom of Group B with three points.
At that tournament, Bakala’s boys recorded two losses to Nigeria and South Africa before exiting with some pride in a 2-1 win over Morocco.
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