Last night, Fashion Sakala knocked on the Chipolopolo door with a goal for his club side Al Feiha in their 4 – 1 loss to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr side in the Saudi Pro – League.
Sakala has gotten off the mark in the Saudi Pro League, scoring his first goal of the season, thus putting pressure on Chipolopolo coach Avram Grant who will need to have a compelling excuse to leave the player out this time around.
Zambia has two crunch matches in the Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) qualifier this September, starting with a match against Ivory Coast away on September 6 before hosting Sierra Leone three days later.
Grant and Sakala have a well-documented spat and albeit the former has denied having any bone to chew with the striker. Well, we shall see what happens when he announces his team.
“I am not speaking about the national team because [I haven’t picked the team yet]. But as I told you, I don’t have a personal issue with anybody,” responded Grant at the Woodlands stadium in Lusaka six days agao. “My commitment is to the team, and I will say it again: [if a player has] talent, passion, and ready to sacrifice for the national team with values; the door is open for everybody, but I haven’t named the team, so I’m not going to talk about it.”
Will Grant snub him again?
Sakala last played for Chipolopolo on January 24 at the Africa Cup of Nations in a 1 – 0 loss to Morocco before his fallout with Grant was made public when Sakala accused his coach of biased selection.
The 26-year-old has scored nine goals in his last 31 games for Zambia; only Patson Daka has more (21) in the current squad.
Grant has snubbed Sakala in subsequent competitive matches which unfortunately Zambia has failed to win.
He now finds himself in a situation where he needs Sakala more than ever especially now that his trusted and sometimes misfiring lieutenant Daka is out injured.
However, BolaNews sources have revealed that the fallout between Sakala and Grant has yet to be resolved since FAZ announced that they had opened investigations into the allegations raised by Al Fayha star, in which the gaffer was accused of coercion; therefore, he may not be called for next week’s AFCON qualifier.
