THERE has been a lot of talk since Honour Janza unveiled his 27-member provisional squad ahead of the Equatorial Guinea 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals that start next month.
While many seem to have welcomed the squad, others still feel some names needed to be included on the list and some dropped if Zambia is to perform well at the continental showpiece.
Among the big names left out are Jacob Mulenga, who had a good run in the qualifiers despite scoring once but he has been consistent on target at his club, Adan Demirspor in Turkey, Rodger Kola, who is the leading scorer in the Israeli League, Collins Mbesuma, Joseph Musonda and Christopher Katongo.
It is good that Janza has made a bold decision to exclude the mature and seemingly tired legs of Katongo and group but he needs a programme to find the right combination of players.
Time is right to give these youngsters a chance to show what they can do at such a stage. The players I am referring to are the likes of Ronald ‘Sate Sate’ Kampamba, Bruce Musakanya, Christopher Munthali, Roderick Kabwe, Kondwani Mtonga, Lubambo Musonda and Evans Kangwa among them.
We need a new breed of players who have the hunger to succeed and win us trophies and all the team needs is support from all stakeholders for them to achieve their goals at the tournament.
Janza has opted to blend experience and youth which I feel is good for the team that is undergoing transition after reaching the highs upon winning the 2012 AFCON title before hitting a low following the first round elimination in 2013.
Much of the bulk of those players had reached their peak and time, even as Patrice Beaumelle used to emphasised, is now ripe to start rebuilding the team for we could not keep relying on tired legs.
But my grave concern is lack of securing friendly matches for the team apart from the Bafana Bafana match set for January 4 in South Africa.
Janza needed, apart from high profile friendlies, practices matches even with clubs that are preparing for continental games so as to help him come with a right combination formula of the player.
We saw how long it took Herve Renard to come up with a winning combination where he played several clubs in an effort to find a key combination of players.
It is not possible to find a combination of players without any friendly match.
If you remember the AFCON winning team was together for a long time hence the historical success.
I am sure it was why Football Association of Zambia (FA)Z chief Kalusha Bwalya said we should not be too expectant from the 2015 AFCON because he understand the tools available and what is involved in bringing glory.
Our opponents DR Congo will play the mighty Cameroon while Cape Verde, having named the final team, are busy in Lisbon-Portugal and the same could be said about Tunisia.
My other concern is the low levels of match fitness as a results of injuries of many players called to camp.
Stoppila Sunzu, Bronson Chama, Nathan Sinkala, and Mukuka Mulenga’s fitness level are in the lowest ebb, a situation which is deadly when a the team going for a championship like the AFCON where there are more than three competitive games to be played. For comments: eliaschipepo@gmail.com