Former Chelsea and West Ham United FC coach Avram Grant has been unveiled as the new Chipolopolo head coach for a two-year deal with an option for an extension.
Grant arrived in Zambia with his first assistant and will also be assisted by local coaches, who will be revealed later.
He is an experienced Israeli coach who previously coached the Israel national team for four years and has spent the majority of his coaching career in Israel, where he has led various teams to numerous league and cup championships.
Grant moved to England in 2006 to work as Portsmouth’s technical director before being appointed director of football at Chelsea FC in July 2007, where he later took over as manager two months later, in September 2007, following the departure of José Mourinho.
His contract with the Blues was terminated at the end of the season despite leading the team to the Champions League and League Cup finals, as well as competing for the Premier League title until the last match day.
In October 2009, Grant returned to Portsmouth as director of football. The following month, he was appointed manager after the team was demoted to the English Championship.
He left and was hired as West Ham United’s manager in June 2010 and served in that capacity until May 2011, when he was sacked after the team was relegated from the topflight.
He was named coach of the Ghanaian national football team in 2014 after spending a season as the manager of Partizan Belgrade and one season as the technical director for Thai side BEC Tero Sasana.
Grant led Ghana to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations semifinals before resigning from his role.
He now takes over the Chipolopolo coaching role, which fell vacant after his predecessor, Aljosa Asanovic, resigned due to alleged non-payment of salary arrears.
Speaking after the official unveiling, Grant said he had received numerous offers but had chosen Zambia because he saw potential in the young team that Zambia has.
He further stated that he enjoys coaching when there is pressure from the fans and he is ready for the challenge.
“I love coaching; I love the pressure; it’s what makes the game beautiful,” he said. “I will be clocking 50 years next year in my coaching career, and I don’t know any day that went by without pressure.”
“A game without pressure is not interesting.” “There has always been pressure everywhere I have coached.”
“Yes, I received other offers, but I was looking for the right challenge.” I think the challenge here is big, and the potential is big also, this is the reason why I chose Zambia, and Zambia also chose me,” stated Grant.
He added that Zambia has young and talented players and he hopes that after his tenure as head coach he will look back and be proud of himself for contributing to the growth of Zambian football.
“You see the young national team of Zambia is improving a lot and I think this is the best time for building something good for the present and the future and I want to do .”
Zambia has missed out on qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations three times in a row; the last time they took part, in 2015, they were eliminated at the group stage.
