The national team has been underperforming recently and the FA chief hopes the stars who secured moves recently will resuscitate it
Football Association of Zambia president Andrew Kamanga has pegged the country’s World Cup qualification dream on Fashion Sakala, Enock Mwepu and Patson Daka.
The three Chipolopolo stars secured moves to new European clubs where they have already taken part in the pre-season programmes, and Kamanga, noting their progress so far, has stated how they promise a brighter future.
Elusive Target
“In Europe, our boys that have broken new ground have been making the right noise as they settle into their new environs,” Kamanga told Faz media.
“It may still be early days to make any wild pronouncements, but we are extremely happy with what we are seeing so far in Scotland, where [Fashion] Sakala who is on the books of giants Glasgow Rangers, coached by the legendary Steven Gerrard, is settling in admirably well.
“We saw flashes of what we already know with that goal against Real Madrid announcing his arrival at Ibrox. Just across in England, [Enock] Mwepu and [Patson] Daka have also joined their clubs for pre-season at Brighton and Leicester, where they have seamlessly blended in.
“By now everyone knows how they are faring, and our hope is that they keep pushing to break new ground. It is by having more players in top European leagues that we can have greater chances of taking our national team to the World Cup, which remains an elusive target.”
The federation’s top official is hoping the trio will open more doors for many Zambian footballers to enter into the European football market: “Currently, we are yet to make a lasting footprint in the top European leagues to open doors for more talents to showcase their talent,” he added.
“The success of our current crop of players on European soil will inspire many others to dream of making it in the top leagues. We are proud of what our boys in Sweden, Russia, Poland, and Austria, among others, are doing.
“Our prayer is that some of our best talents plying their trade domestically and on the African continent can step up and make a move into the top world leagues a realistic target. We believe that once the World Cup qualifiers kick off on September 1, 2021, we can count on the form of some of our top players.
After failing to qualify for the African Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon, and coupled with a poor performance in Cosafa, Zambia made a technical change by relieving Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic of his duties as coach.
