Zambia men’s under-20 national team Coach Chisi Mbewe has set qualifying for the 2023 junior Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which is set to kick off on the 18th of February in Egypt as the main target at this year’s COSAFA Cup.

Mbewe who is also the current Red Arrows FC coach and reigning Zambian Super Leaguer coach of the year award winner, says he knows they have a huge task ahead of them but the technical bench has set
targets and they will work hard to ensure they achieve them by reaching the final of this COSAFA under-20 tournament which will earn them qualification to the junior AFCON.

Speaking in an interview after the team’s first open training session today at Nkoloma Stadium, Mbewe added that preparations for the COSAFA Cup are going well and he has started trimming the squad to concentrate on the players that will make the final squad.

“So far so good the boys are putting in the effort, the team has not qualified for two editions, so the
boys know what is at stake and we know we have a huge task ahead of us, so we keep working
and preparing the boys mentally.” He said.

Enterprising and young attacking midfielder Songa Chipyoka also expressed confidence the team has what it takes to reach the final of the COSAFA Cup and book a place at the 2023 Under-20 AFCON.

“Our target is to qualify for the AFCON tournament because we haven’t been there in a long time,
we are working hard. We are different players from different leagues and have different minds but when we are representing the country, we have one objective which is to qualify to Africa Cup tournament.” He said.

Zambia who have won the COSAFA Cup a record 11 times, were drawn in group A and will kick off their campaign against Mauritius on October 7th in Eswatini.

The COSAFA tournament will also serve as the qualifier for the 2023 Under-20 AFCON with the two finalists booking a place at the junior continental football showpiece.