Following a 2-0 loss in their opening match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Ivory Coast on Friday, the Chipolopolo Boys are set for their second match in Group G.
Tomorrow at the Levy Mwanawansa stadium, they will host Sierra Leone, who drew 0-0 with Chad in their opening match.
Chipolopolo coach Avram Grant has put the defeat to Ivory Coast behind him, stating that tomorrow’s game will be different as he seeks to win for the first time this year.
“I’m really happy to be back home. Our target is to qualify for the second time in a row after a long time. And this is our target and to achieve this target, we need to take points and we need to win the next game,” Grant told reporters on Monday morning in Ndola. “We started well with the performance but we lost against a very good team [Ivory Coast]. But the players showed a lot of commitment—a lot of fighting spirit, which I was very happy about, but the game tomorrow will be a different game against a good team, but our target is the same: to win this game and to qualify for a second time for Africa [cup of nations].”
“We know their weakenesses”- Grant
Grant’s team has now lost four consecutive competitive matches and is winless since November 2023.
The gaffer, however, is optimistic about tomorrow’s match, claiming that his technical bench has done their homework to learn about the Leone Stars.
“We know everything about the opponent. We’ve also shown the players. We have analysed all the games, the last games of the opponent. Everybody has seen it, including the staff,” he said. “We have learnt about their weaknesses and strengths. They’re a very good team but our target is to show that we are also a good team.”
Zambia and Sierra Leone have met two times with the Chipolopolo claiming one victory in the 1996 Afcon group stage while the other match ended in a 0-0 draw in 1994.
