LUBAMBO

By SANDRA MWILA-
ZAMBIA Under-20 captain Lubambo Musonda and defender Benedict Chepeshi have been ruled out of this weekend’s Senegal 2015 Africa Youth Championship (AYC) final round, return leg qualifier match against Malawi.
Coach Hector Chilombo said in an interview after a training session at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka yesterday that Lubambo, who missed the first leg in Malawi, will not be part of the team seeking to clinch qualification on Saturday due to club engagements.
Chilombo said Lubambo, who recently signed a one-year-deal with Armenian side Ulisses, would not be available owing to club commitments while Chepeshi was still recovering from an injury picked up during trials in Portugal.
“Lubambo and Chepeshi will miss the game as you know he (Lubambo) just signed a new contract in Armenia while Bennedict is still recovering from an injury. But we have able players who can fill in their boots,” he said.
Chilombo, who is also Napsa Stars coach, said the players have continued working hard in training and were focussed on winning the match to secure qualification to the Africa Youth Championship.
He expressed happiness that there were no injury worries in the team and that the squad was boosted by eight players who had a training stint with Chipolopolo last week.
A barren draw will see Zambia seal qualification for the continental youth championships having last qualified in 2007 under the tutelage of George Lwandamina finishing fourth to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals held in Canada.