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Chan 2021: Why competition came at crucial point for Zambia - Kamanga
The official believes the continental tournament may end up opening professional doors for their players
Football Association of Zambia president Andrew Kamanga has explained why the African Nations Championship tournament has come at a vital moment for them.
Zambia will start the campaign against Tanzania on Tuesday and Kamanga believes the competition could offer a big door for players to pursue their professional dreams.
“What is important is that this tournament is coming at a very crucial point., we are happy that even for the players it is an opportunity to showcase their skills,” the FAZ top official said as was quoted by the federation’s Facebook page.
“Those who will be fortunate may just get their professional careers taking off because we have a lot of scouts who are monitoring the players and the international transfer window still open until the end of January.
“So, those who will do well have an opportunity to go into professional football. But most importantly also as the executive, we have made sure that the team which is participating here is critical because we have other engagements beyond this tournament.”
Kamanga also said the players must fight hard in order to be part of the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations qualifiers in just over month’s time.
“In March we are back with the Afcon qualifiers we play Algeria and Zimbabwe away and after that, in June we have World Cup qualifiers,” he added.
“So, for the players, it is an opportunity that they should be part of this team, be part of the Afcon team to play qualifiers and be part of the World Cup. So, in terms of motivation and progression, there is enough for them to fight for.”
The president further said the importance of according the players proper preparations is because they want to do better in the competition than they did during the last edition.
“Our idea was that we give the team enough preparation as they come into the tournament,” he concluded.
“Where we are today, the tournament has started, we expect that the team is now ready, and they will be able to do well, initially get out of the group stages and get to the quarterfinal.
“Last time, we came out in the quarterfinal, we expect that this time around there will be an improvement and go beyond the quarterfinal.”
