Zambia Futsal team coach Andrea Cristoforetti has urged his players to fully utilize chances created during the Futsal Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Rabat, Morocco.
Zambia and Morocco are jointly leading Group A with 3 points each following victories in their opening matches of the competition.
The Chipolopolo recovered from a goal deficit to beat 5-2 Ghana, who are returning to the tournament for the first time in 28 years.
Despite the victory, the Italian coach was not happy with the outcome because he believes they squandered many opportunities.
“We did create opportunities, and the message to the boys was not to stop them from playing,” Andrea said. “When you have a good number of chances and the ball doesn’t go in, you might force balls in a way that is too dangerous, and it happened a few times, so the message was to focus on playing.”
Although the squad missed most of its opportunities in the first half, Cristoforetti—a former South African coach—was happy that the team kept producing chances.
“We created a lot of chances and didn’t finalize them; we made some mistakes that are not acceptable in international competitions.”
On the flip side, Cristoforetti has applauded the team for a positive start ahead of a tricky match against Angola on Saturday.
“Tactically, we could have been a little bit better, but again, starting with three points will give morale to the guys, and we prepare for the game against Angola,” he concluded.
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The Angolans suffered a 5-2 defeat against Morocco in the other Group A match played on Thursday. Ghana will take on Morocco in their next fixture, with Zambia facing Angola on Saturday.
