CHIPOLOPOLO ITCHING FOR IRAQ
Written by MRadio on March 18, 2022
By MICHAEL MIYOBA
ZAMBIA’S national soccer team will today launch its preparations for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with an international friendly match against the distressed Iraqi national soccer team at Medina Stadium in Baghdad.
It will be the first time in history that the Chipolopolo and the Lions of Mesopotamia will be facing off in a fixture which will be Aljosa Asanovic’s first international assignment as Chipolopolo gaffer since his appointment on January 18.
Asanovic, who was given a four-year contract with a task to qualify Zambia to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will be determined to start his reign on a positive note in a game which he believes will give the local stars a great opportunity to show what they have to offer.
Despite the game being a friendly, the Croatian who has travelled with a 20-member squad of locally-based players is eager to use the friendly to assess players he will include in the squad that will fly to Europe for two more friendly games.
Zambia will play Angola and Guinea in the other friendly matches scheduled for March 25 and March 29 in Portugal and France and Asanovic is hoping to pick a win to raise the confidence levels ahead of the Afcon qualifiers scheduled for June 2022.
“It is always important to get a positive result whether you play a friendly or a World Cup qualification. The most important things is that when you start to win, your people begin to believe in you and when you lose people will start believing that you are not good enough. But this is a process and I know the payers coming from Europe will give us something,” Asanovic said.
For the local stars such as Solomon Sakala, Prosper Chiluya and former Under-20 star Prince Mumba, the game against Iraq who are ranked 74th on the global rankings and eighth in the Asian Football Confederations consisting of 46 member countries will give them the exposure needed for the growth.
Meanwhile, Iraq will use the game to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates and Syria as they aim to sneak into the fourth round of the World Cup qualifiers.
Iraq return to action for the first time since a 1-1 draw with Lebanon in the World Cup qualifiers last month.
