.KALUSHA

By FRANCINA CHOMBA-

FOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ) president, Kalusha Bwalya has backed the Chipolopolo to recover from a poor start and qualify for the Morocco 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals despite losing to Cape Verde.
Kalusha has, however, said that there was need for Zambia to strive at making it difficult for opposing teams to score against them.
“Zambia will qualify to AFCON 2015. We have to continue working hard and that is the only way,” Kalusha told faz football.com.
Kalusha added that he was satisfied  with the Chipolopolo’s performance in Praia but that the players needed to keep their concentration levels high throughout the match.
“It was a better overall performance than when we played Mozambique in Ndola. Need more concentration. We had them under control, yet they found a way past us. We have to work hard to get one goal. We should also make it difficult for other team to score against us.
“There were lots of positives today (Wednesday). We need more heart, especially going forward. We still have a lot to play for. We need to be patient and above all to believe in ourselves,” he said.
Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili expressed disappointment with the defeat but urged the team not to give up as it was not the end of the road because Zambia still has four more games to play in the qualifiers.
Kambwili said coach Honour Janza needed time to enable him settle in his new position and assess the players before he can improve the standards of the team.
“I did not watch the games as I was busy with campaigns but this is not the end of the road as we still have four more games to play. The team needs the support of everyone as they focus on the upcoming matches,” he said.
He said it was too early to judge the team based on the two matches but was confident that the team will qualify.