Zambia and Mali open their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign tomorrow at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca.
Zambia’s coach Moses Sichone has said they will not respect Mali on the pitch tomorrow.
Mali have not beaten Zambia in a competitive match since then.
The last meeting between the two sides was in 2022, a friendly match that ended 1-0 in favour of the Eagles.
However, across four competitive encounters, Mali have managed only two draws: in 2016 (0-0 at CHAN) and in 2004 (1-1 in the World Cup qualifiers).
Speaking ahead of the match today, Mali coach Tom Saintfiet described tomorrow’s opener as their most difficult challenge.
“Looking to tomorrow’s match we will face a very strong team,” he told a press conference. “As I said already earlier, I quickly mentioned that tomorrow’s game will be the most difficult for us.”
Saintfiet continued: “First game in a tournament is always some pressure. And Zambia is a good team. They are always there. They have, won their [qualifying] group ahead of Ivory Coast. They have good individual players. They have quality players who play together a as team. And we will have to be very good prepared get good performance. But it’s clear that we as Mali we want to start with a win. And we will have to do everything to get these three points.”
Sichone wants to start the tournament with a win and boldly stated that the respect they have for Mali remains on paper.
“We respect the Malian team. So we know how the Malian team, the players, they are strong. So, I mean, when we get to the field, I think the respect will be earned in the pitch.”
Sichone continued: “The respect for Mali is on the paper, and this is something that I’ll be emphasizing to my players. So we need to deal with our preparation and to make sure that we get a positive result.”
