2021 CHAN exit depressing- Kamanga

MICHAEL MIYOBA writes @SunZambian FOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga said it is depressing that the Chipolopolo failed to reach the semi-finals at the 2021 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Cameroon. Zambia crashed out after 3-1 defeat to Morocco in the quarter final stage, Kamanga said his executive will carry out a CHAN postmortem to ascertain what went wrong in Cameroon.. Kamanga said qualifying to the semi-final of the CHAN would have been a perfect reward for the level of preparations that were invested in getting the team ready for the tournament. “This week could not have started on a more depressing note than the exit of our Chipolopolo from the African Nations Championship at the quarterfinal stage. “We had hoped that the team was going to go beyond the quarterfinals after having started promisingly,” Kamanga said. He however noted that FAZ will not tire in trying to reboot the Chipolopolo through continuous investment in grassroots and youth football. Kamanga said there is need for the Chipolopolo to move very quickly as there are Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers looming next month against Algeria and Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Kamanga has urged the Olympic-bound senior women’s national team to utilise the invitation to the Eight Nation Tournament in Turkey. Zambia will join Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Uzbekistan in their group in a tournament that runs from February 15-24 in Antalya. Kamanga said the association has continued to give the Copper Queens the best possible preparations after having already sent the team to Chile last December.