. Kambwili

By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –
GOVERNMENT intends to charter a plane for Chipolopolo to Cape Verde for next Wednesday’s Morocco 2015 Africa Cup qualifier following near-impossible travel arrangements to the tiny West African island.
Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili confirmed this yesterday that his ministry was discussing with the Ministry of Finance on the possibility of chartering a plane to take the team into and out of Cape Verde as connecting flight would be complicated.
He said with the two games coming within four days, it would be impossible to get to the island, which is 350 kilometres outside the West African coast, and spare enough time for the team to train ahead of the game.
“We are talking with the Ministry of Finance to see if we can charter a plane to Cape Verde for the game there. We took this proposal to the Ministry of Finance in the morning and we shall meet them again.
“If we play on Saturday, it will be difficult to get there in time, there are no scheduled flights to that island and connections are complicated so, we need to charter a plane. We need to give our boys enough time to train before the game,” he said.
After this Saturday’s game (on September 6) Zambia has to travel to Cape Verde for a game on Wednesday (September 10) and without direct flights, Zambia has to connect either via South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia or United Arab Emirates and then into Portugal and then to Cape Verde.
Kambwili said there was no definite answer yet because the national treasurer had “a few challenges” with several developmental projects going on and medicines to buy in hospitals, but promised that Sports Permanent Secretary Agnes Musunga was working round the clock.
And Kambwili has ordered the Chipolopolo not to take Mozambique lightly in this Saturday’s Morocco 2015 Africa Cup qualifier saying there was no small team in football anymore.
Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka yesterday, Kambwili said that football in this age did not have a small team and underrating any team in these qualifiers could be suicidal.
“No one should be taken as a weak team, all teams should be treated strongly and no underrating of anyone, we have to rate all opponents as strong as Brazil,” he said.
Kambwili’s fears cannot be ignored as Zambia bungled its 2014 world Cup chances due to lackluster performances against teams that were perceived weak like Lesotho away and Sudan in both legs and lost ground on a World Cup spot.
He mentioned Cape Verde as a tiny island with a small population of 500,000 but has almost the entire team playing in Europe making it a strong team.
He said every team in Zambia’s group (Mozambique, Cape Verde and Niger) should be take serious and looked as to be as strong as Brazil.
He also expressed worry at the team’s defence saying they were the weakest link in the game against Sudan and that Coach Honour Janza should make sure he solidifies the department to avoid any blushes this weekend.
“The midfield did very well and the front line also played well but the defence was shaky, we were being opened up way too easily and if we were playing a team with a sharp frontline, we would not have won that game,” he said.