ZAMBIA WILL A FORCE TO RECKON WITH IN AFRICA – GRANT

By BARNABAS ZULU

CHIPOLOPOLO coach Avram Grant believes Zambia will continue to be a force in African football as long as they maintain their current progress.
In an interview on the popular Soccer Africa Show on SuperSport, Grant emphasised that despite a long injury list, the team had peaked at the right time, securing back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations appearances.
“I think what was good for our team is the progress since I started almost two years ago. One of the major improvements has been how we handle difficult situations.
I would check on a few players to see what they were doing when things didn’t go well,” Grant explained.
“We lost our first game, but since then, we’ve shown a lot of good mentality, which we focused on. We developed in every aspect – football, mentality – even with all the difficulties.”
Grant pointed to Zambia’s 2-0 loss to Ivory Coast as a turning point, after which the team rebounded, scoring in every match and maintaining four clean sheets.
“Since those last four games, we kept a clean sheet, scored goals, and were strong even in tough situations. If we continue this development, Zambia will return to the position they deserve,” he said. The former Chelsea, West Ham, Portsmouth, and Partizan Belgrade coach praised his team’s resilience, particularly after missing nine key players due to injury. Despite these challenges, Zambia finished top of Group G, ahead of the African champions, Ivory Coast.
“We lost the first game to Ivory Coast, even though we played well. Then, we won against Sierra Leone in a very tough match. After that, we had back-to-back victories over Chad.
We had many issues from the start, missing Patson Daka and five other players, including our captain Lubambo Musonda, Edward Chilufya, Miguel Chaiwa, and others,” Grant recounted.
“Even with eight players out, we won against Chad and faced two very tough games. We worked a lot on the mental side. We played against Ivory Coast, a fantastic team with many players in top leagues.”
Grant also spoke about the promising young players who stepped up during this period, stressing the importance of continued hard work to secure their places.“I want to build for the future, not just for Sabobo. We’ve played with Miguel Chaiwa, who is only 20, and with Obino, a talented player, along with other young players.
We also have experienced players like Sunzu and others. The balance in the team is very good.
Sabobo is a great talent, but there are many talents who haven’t done enough yet. As I always say in my lectures, no one has enough talent to succeed without hard work.”
Grant emphasised the importance of mental development for players, noting that while Sabobo is a promising talent, he needs to continue working hard to secure a successful future.
“Sabobo is a very good player and talent. He needs to work hard, just as he did in the last two games. If he continues to work hard, he’ll have a bright future, like many of the other talents we have on the team,” he said.
Grant guided the Chipolopolo to back-to-back AFCON qualifications, finishing top of Group G with 13 points, one ahead of African champions Ivory Coast. Sierra Leone finished third with five points, while Chad ended at the bottom with three points.