The newly appointed Chipolopolo coach, Aram Grant, may not have Frankie Musonda in his squad for the back-to-back 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers as he is yet to recover from an injury sustained in November 2022.
Zambia, which currently sits second in Group H with three points, one point behind leaders Ivory Coast, will play Lesotho at home and away on March 20 and 27, 2023, and the new coach must be perplexed that one of the team’s reliable players may be unavailable for selection.
Musonda, who missed Chipolopolo’s international friendly match with Israel in November, was recently quoted in the Zambian media as saying that he was not sure when he would recover from the injury he picked up in the draw with Morton last year.
“I am still injured at the moment. Recovery is taking longer than I first thought. It’s unclear when I will be back fit at the moment,” Musonda was quoted.
Prior to joining Ayr United, the British-born Zambian international suffered a thigh injury that kept him away from the pitch for close to a month while still at Raith Rovers.
He has so far played 14 games this season in the Scottish Championship for Ayr United, starting all of them and providing one assist.
Musonda, who has now made four appearances for the Zambia national team, has become an important figure in the Chipolopolo defence and would be a huge blow to Zambia if he does not recover in time before the AFCON qualifiers resume.
His first home match last in June last year against Comoros at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka saw him play the entire 90 minutes and command the defense which earned him the nickname, “Remote Controller’.
Musonda also completed the most passes (53) and made the most recoveries and clearances (4), with an accurate pass rate of 87%, more than anyone else on either side to help the Chipolopolo win 2-1 and collect maximum points.
Many fans will also be hoping that the Zambian Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security will expedite Inter Miami FC defender Aime Mabika’s naturalisation process, which has been pending for the last seven months since he made his debut in international friendly matches against Congo Brazzaville and Benin, as a like-for-like replacement for Musonda.
Grant, however, does have other options, including China-based defenders Stopilla Sunzu, Dominic Chanda, Benedict Chepeshi, Miguel Chaiwa, Thandi Mwape, and Roderick Kabwe who are familiar faces in the national colors.
