It has emerged that Zambia’s reputation as a haven of peace was among the reasons Avram Grant accepted the Chipolopolo job amidst many offers back in 2022.
Grant has clocked two years since he took over the Chipolopolo job, which was left vacant after the unceremonious exit of Croatian trainer Alijosa Asanovic.
The Israeli must have sent some shock waves in the football world when he decided to pick the Chipolopolo job more so that he was inheriting a squad that was generally struggling.
However, the former Chelsea, West Ham, and Portsmouth trainer has revealed that he was attracted to Chipolopolo because of the peaceful environment in Zambia.
“I had a lot of offers and as far as I was concerned, I had two restrictions, “ Grant said in an interview with Israel’s 102 FM. “One, safe countries, and there are a lot of unsafe countries in Africa, and two, English-speaking countries like Ghana, for example.”
Grant compares Zambia and Ghana
Meanwhile, Grant said a huge gap exists between Zambia and his former team, Ghana, but Chipolopolo is on the way up.
“In terms of football, the difference is huge between the two countries. Ghana is a team with a lot of players in Europe and Zambia is on its way there,” he said.
So far, Grant has achieved some considerable success with Chipolopolo, helping the team qualify for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in eight years.
His next task will be trying to achieve a maiden World Cup qualification for Chipolopolo.
Zambia will play Morocco in Agadir on June 8, followed by Tanzania three days later at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
READ MORE: Why Avram Grant wants to change Chipolopolo captain
