Former Zambia National Team forward Collins Mbesuma has urged upcoming Chipolopolo players to limit their social media use and focus on delivering strong performances on the pitch.
The Chipolopolo boys have regrouped after a painful home defeat against Morocco last month, preparing for their next fixtures. Zambia will face Tanzania on Wednesday in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers before hosting Niger on Sunday at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium. The team is eager to revive its chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Speaking exclusively to Bolanews, Mbesuma encouraged the young players to avoid distractions from social media:
What I have noticed we have good players, we have experienced players. Let’s not just play too much social media football, social media football kills players because when you are active on social media and you don’t perform well on the pitch you know the negative comments that will come from social media.
To the upcoming players, let’s stay away from social media. You can have other people post for you; not everything should be taken to social media. Especially as we are going to the Afcon, let’s avoid social media. I have seen players going down because of social media. People can kill you before the game and you end up going off form.
Mbesuma also expressed confidence in the team’s ability to deliver strong results.
Let’s focus. We have a good team; we can do better. I wish them all the best going to Afcon. We have talent in Zambia; we can’t run away from it. But we have to look after our talent in Zambia. I hope from the loss at home we can turn things around when we play the next game,” he said.
The former Kaizer Chiefs striker represented the Chipolopolo boys from 2003 to 2017 and was part of Zambia’s 2012 Afcon-winning squad. He scored 22 goals in 65 appearances for the Chipolopolo Boys.
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