“WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TIRELESSLY”
In welcoming the newly unveiled Chipolopolo coach, the FAZ President began by first observing the presence of all the dignitaries present and went on to say the following:
“Compliments of the season to all the football brains gathered here, it is indeed a good season for our game, as evidenced by the composition of this gathering, today’s occasion signals a new beginning in our football journey, the year has seen so many highs such that it gives us greater hope that 2023 will be an even greater season.”
“A quick scan into the teams that have qualified for their various competitions points to a greater year in 2023. Our U17, as well as U20 Men’s team, have qualified for their respective AFCON Tournaments, to be held in the first quarter of next year, while our U23 still have a game against Egypt before qualifying. Our senior Women’s team, the current COSAFA CHAMPIONS have also qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand in July next year. Our Men’s Senior Team is already in contention for the AFCON 2023 having played 2 games, recording a loss against Ivory Coast and a win against Comoros, in March we are back with back-to-back matches against Lesotho.
“The biggest cry from our fans has been the performance of the Chipolopolo, which has not lived up to expectations and missed out on the last 3 AFCON Tournaments, we have been working tirelessly to ensure that the Chipolopolo returns to the elite of the African game, looking at the progress recorded so far which includes keeping the team active with friendly matches, we are confident that with the coming in of the new technical bench, we will reach completion. Our players are doing well in their respective leagues across the globe and only require a little push to reach the point of achievement, we believe with the coming in of Mr Avram Grant as Chipolopolo Head Coach, we will be back amongst the elite of the African game.”
“Mr Grant is a well-known figure in the world of football having served in some of the most prestigious positions before, he has previously served as head coach of Israel and Ghana on the African Continent, and he led Ghana to 2nd place in the 2015 AFCON held in Equatorial Guinea. His club managerial career has seen him coach Maccabi Tel Aviv, Chelsea, Portsmouth, and West Ham among other Clubs. In Mr Grant, we have an accomplished Coach and will serve as a signal that we are in the new dawn of Zambian Football.”
“Finally, I wish to thank all those that participated in the transparent selection process, as well as a special, thank you to the Government for walking step by step with us along the way in this process, Government has guaranteed us of full support throughout this process and our duty will be to reciprocate with good results, to the fans, we can only ask them to support the national team and the new technical bench, as we venture into 2023, I thank you.”
