Former Zambian Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)-winning midfielder Noah Chivuta has said the inclusion of new players in the Chipolopolo squad will take time for the team to gel.
Zambia, drawn in Group A alongside hosts Morocco, Mali, and Comoros, lost 2-0 to DR Congo on Tuesday in a pre-AFCON friendly in Spain.
Chivuta said, “For me, the results won’t matter much. What matters is seeing how the team is shaping up.”
The former Chipolopolo midfielder highlighted the challenge posed by the influx of new players, pointing out that cohesion will take time.
“We have a lot of new players who haven’t played much with the national team…. So we don’t expect the team to gel immediately,” he said. “The full squad only reported to camp recently, so proper training has just started.”
Chivuta encouraged the team to make the most of the limited preparation time and give maximum effort.
“Football is about improvising. We have to work with what we have and grind results with no excuses. Win or lose, the effort must be 100 percent.”
Zambia will open its AFCON campaign on Monday, December 22, against Mali in Casablanca.
They will shift base to Morocco on Friday, following the cancellation of their friendly against the Ivory Coast. The friendly was scheduled for tomorrow morning.
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) said the “decision was made to give the players enough time to recover after playing DRC Tuesday evening.”
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