Three years after leaving the Chipolopolo job, Belgian trainer Sven Vandenbroek has clarified his ‘Zambia is not a footballing nation’ sentiments, stating the comments were taken out of context.
Vandenbroeck had an unsuccessful spell with Chipolopolo during his brief stay in Zambia; his departure was messy, laced with an exchange of words with then Football House general secretary Adrian Kashala.
In March 2019, the Belgian was sent on forced leave for the remaining days of his contract in the run-up to a dead rubber Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) qualifier against Namibia at the National Heroes Stadium.
By the time he was leaving, he had recorded one win, a draw, and two losses in his first five games with Chipolopolo. His only other win came in a 1-0 away friendly victory over Gabon.
He is famously remembered for comments he made, suggesting Zambia was not a footballing nation as he attempted to water down the team’s failure to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Sven thinks he was misunderstood
But in a recent interview with ZNBC’s Matimba Nkonje, Vandebroeck put his sentiments into context.
“What I meant is that, of course, everyone plays football and everyone likes football in Zambia but if you compare Zambia to Egypt or Cameroon, you don’t have these historical stats that you can compare with these kinds of countries.
“So my point was that at the times I was the head coach of the national team, Zambia was coming from a period where they won the AfCON in 2012 and from then on it went down so at that moment we could not ask some or obligate the team to qualify or win tournaments; that was my point,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vandenbroeck said he was impressed with what he had seen in the current Chipolopolo team at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
“It was positive, to be honest; it had been a long time that they did not qualify for AfCON. After a few editions, they were on the biggest stage again in a group that was not easy with Congo and Morocco, two good teams,” he said.
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Zambia were booted out of the ongoing AfCON after finishing third of Group F with two points following a run of two stalemates and one defeat in a group that included Morocco, the DRC, and Tanzania.
