By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –

ZAMBIA Under-17 coach Chris Kaunda has said his charges are in perfect physical condition going into tomorrow’s last round of qualifiers for the 2015 Niger Africa junior championships against Uganda.
As Kaunda basks in the comfort of having a fully fit side and all options available, his opposite number Coach Mathias Lule has to deal with the young Chipolopolo without two key players including team captain Andrew Okiring.
And the Uganda Under-17 were yesterday evening afternoon yesterday expected in Zambia for the crucial clash set for Nkoloma stadium in Lusaka.
Kaunda said yesterday that his charges were all set for the game and eager to qualify to the Africa Under-17 Championships finals next year.
Should they qualify, the Under-17 will follow two other national teams, their Under-20 counterparts who have qualified for next year’s Africa Under-20 championships and the senior women team that next month takes part in the Africa women Championships.
“The guys are perfectly fit. Things are all in place and I even gave them a free morning and expect them to be back to their top level when we resume training,” he said.
And from Uganda, The Daily Monitor reports that team captain Andrew Okiring will miss the first leg in Lusaka due to tight school commitments but will hopefully be back in the team for the return leg in Kampala.
The US-based Carlisle High School student was ruled out the first leg because of a tight academic schedule.
The Uganda under-17 team popularly known as the Cubs will also be without Musa Mukalazi for the game after the midfielder picked up an ankle injury during training but coach Mathias Lule is buoyed by news that striker Shaban Muhammad has recovered from knee trouble.
Muhammad, who has scored three goals in Uganda’s four games in the qualifiers also part in light training before departure at Njeru Technical Centre.
The Cubs qualified for the third and final qualification round after a 7-2 aggregate victory over Rwanda while Zambia eliminated Botswana 6-0 on aggregate but in an earlier round where Zambia was on bye, Uganda bashed Seychelles 5-1.
The winner of the tie qualifies for the eight-team 2015 African Under-17 youth championships that will be hosted by Niger in May next year with the best four teams qualifying for the world cup in Chile.