Avram Grant, Zambia’s national football team coach, has announced his squad for the crucial 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, with Leicester City Patson Daka missing yet again.
The Chipolopolo will face Ivory Coast in a high-stakes match on November 15 at the Levy Mwanawansa Stadium in Ndola, before travelling to Liberia to face Sierra Leone on November 19.
Daka is one of the squad’s notable absences, having resumed normal training at Leicester City but been given more time to fully recover. Kingston Mutandwa is also sidelined due to injury. The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) confirmed that the winger would be unavailable for selection for the upcoming matches.
Stopilla Sunzu, Joshua Mutale, and Golden Mafwenta return to the squad after missing previous selections. Mutale, who plays for Tanzanian giants Simba SC, brings pace and creativity to the attacking third.
Chilufya, Musonda, Chaiwa also out
While the trio’s return has given Zambia a boost, some of its key players continue to be injured. Like Daka, Edward Chilufya, captain Lubambo Musonda, a key winger, and Miguel Chaiwa, who has impressed in recent call-ups, will both miss.
Despite the injuries, Grant said, “We need to do our best against Ivory Coast; we played them last year. We played with all of our fit players and won [the last time we played them at home]. So in football, anything can happen. I have a lot of respect for the Ivory Coast team; all of their players are key players in European clubs. We don’t have players like that, but we have a positive attitude. We are playing as a team, with a good spirit, and I believe we can achieve a good result.
“Our target is the same, like I told you before; we want to [qualify for AFCON]. We [qualified] after a long time and we want to do it again and again.”
The Chipolopolo are currently second in Group G with 7 points, trailing Ivory Coast, which leads with 9, while Sierra Leone and Chad are third and fourth with 4 and 2 points, respectively.
They need a win over Ivory Coast and hope the match between Sierra Leone and Chad does not produce a winner for them to qualify for next year’s tournament with a game to spare.
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