from ARNOLD MULENGA in Lusaka, Zambia
Zambia Bureau
LUSAKA, (CAJ News) – THE much-anticipated friendly with world champions Argentina on Tuesday (today) is a turning point in Zambia’s quest to revive its football fortunes.
It is arguably the biggest game in the Chipolopolo’s (Copper Bullets’) history as they visit the 57 200-seater La Bombonera in Buenos Aires for the duel with Lionel Messi and company.
The Zambian Embassy in Brazil has hosted coach Moses Sichone and the team during a courtesy call.
“It will be a tough match playing the world champions, but I want to remind you that football is played on the pitch and is not always determined by reputation,” Batseba Ngwenya, First Secretary for Political and Consular Affairs at the Embassy, encouraged the team.
She was speaking during a courtesy call on the squad in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital.
Keith Mweemba, President of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), believes the friendly will be pivotal in the team’s efforts to reclaim glory.
He described the fixture against the three-time World Cup winners as more than just a friendly, but a moment that could be a turning point for Zambian football.
This is under the “Operation Making Zambia Great Again.”
“Zambian football has dropped to levels where no one can be proud,” Mweemba said.
“But we must unite and rebuild the game through what I am calling ‘Operation Making Zambia Great Again’.”
Zambia has been a pale shadow of the side that won the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
The fixture against Argentina is the standout duel in a number of friendlies African nations will be involved in on Tuesday.
– CAJ News