Zambia’s youth development officer, Clifford Mulenga, says the under-17 national team’s ultimate goal was to qualify for the World Cup, a target that they have achieved.

Ian Bakala’s team bowed out of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco following a humiliating 6-1 defeat to Burkina Faso in the quarter finals on Thursday night.

The team was a shadow of what it had been in its first three games, leading to a lot of fans, journalists, and bloggers expressing disappointment at the poor performance in the match against Burkina Faso.

However, Mulenga, the head of youth development in the Technical Director’s office at the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), has jumped to the defence of the team.

“We have bowed out of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations at the quarterfinal stage. We have achieved our target of qualifying for the U-17 World Cup in Qatar later this year,” Mulenga wrote to his Facebook followers.

Wenger was impressed – Mulenga

The ex-Chipolopolo midfielder revealed that during the game, he sat alongside legendary manager Arsène Wenger, who was impressed with Zambia’s style despite the loss. 

The former Arsenal manager serves as FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development. In this role, he oversees various initiatives, including coaching programmes and technical analysis of games at FIFA tournaments.

“Sat next to Mr Arsène Wenger, one of the greatest coaches global football has produced. His reviews of our young footballers and style of play have really impressed him,” Mulenga claimed. “He [Wenger] says if he were still coaching, he would get five of our players. We can only get better.”

Meanwhile, in an interview, Mulenga confirmed having discussed with Wenger but could not reveal the identities of the players that had impressed the legendary manager.

READ MORE: Onana Under Fire for Continued Errors But Man Utd Coach Defends Him