. Sinkala

By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE and KALUIMANA KALUMIANA –
CHIPOLOPOLO vice-captain Nathan Sinkala says Zambia is ready to face any team when draws for the Equatorial Guinea 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) are conducted this evening in Malabo.
Zambia is among the 16 teams that have qualified for the 2015 AFCON finals and will be anxiously waiting for the draw of the tournament that kicks off on January 17 to February 8.
The 2012 African champions are seeded top and have avoided to be drawn in the same group with four-time champions Ghana, Hervé Renard’s Ivory Coast and hosts Equatorial Guinea.
However, the Chipolopolo face the likelihood of facing stronger teams in pot two, three and four that have six former champions.
Pot Two has 2013 losing finalists Burkina Faso, 2004 winners Tunisia, 1990 champions Algeria and Mali, while the resurgent South Africa, the 1996 champions are in Pot Three along with Gabon, 2013 debutants Cape Verde and four-time winners Cameroun.
Pot Four consists of one-time winners Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Congo Brazzaville, and losing finalists Guinea and Senegal.
A worst case scenario for Zambia would be to be grouped with Algeria, Cameroun and Senegal while a relatively ease group would see Zambia pitted against Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and DR Congo.
But Sinkala, who captained the Chipolopolo in the 1-0 win over Mozambique that qualified Zambia to the 2015 AFCON finals, said in an interview from his Zurich base that the team is not expecting a charitable draw.
“I think we are ready to face any team in the AFCON draws. We just have to work hard during our preparatory training and it is not going to be easy,” Sinkala said.
The Chipolopolo vice-captain and Grasshopper midfielder is expected to take his Swiss league Winter break next week after hosting Young Boys this Saturday evening and return to action on February 7, 2015.
Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president, Kalusha Bwalya said he was hoping for a favourable draw in Malabo tonight.
Kalusha said FAZ will ensure that Chipolopolo gives a good account of themselves at the forth coming 2015 AFCON finals to be hosted by Equatorial Guinea.
“The association wishes to assure the nation that it will do everything possible to ensure that the Chipolopolo gives a good account at the Africa Cup finals.
We are doing everything to ensure that the team prepares well on and off the pitch and we will soon announce the training programme ahead of the continental championships.” Kalusha said.
The 16 qualified teams have been divided into four pots based on the CAF rankings established by their performances in the last three editions of the final tournament of the AFCON (2010, 2012, 2013) and the qualifiers of the 2012, 2013 and 2015 editions.
CAF said the performance of the concerned teams during the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup was also taken into account.