.Chisamba

From FELIX MALUNGA –

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
RUSSIAN-BASED midfielder, Chisamba Lungu says there is no need for the Chipolopolo to continue crying over ‘spilt milk’ but should instead focus on working hard fo future assignments.
The Chipolopolo were ejected from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals on Monday in Ebebiyin, Equatorial Guinea after finishing bottom of Group B following two draws and a loss, allowing Tunisia and DR Congo to reach the quarter-finals.
Chisamba said in an interview that while it was saddening to leave the AFCON just after playing three games, there was need to continue working hard ahead of the upcoming assignments.
He said while there was still a lot of work to be done, he has backed the current squad to sparkle in future.
With the AFCON done, Chisamba said he would now concentrate on working hard at his Russian club, Ural when the league opens in two months.
Delegation leader Happie Munkondya said Zambia’s first round exit from the ongoing tournament has left the Chipolopolo players with bruised hearts.
Munkondya said the early ejection had hurt the players as they had high expectations before the tournament. He said the Chipolopolo failed to perform to expectations of Zambians and disappointed their millions of fans.
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) committee member said despite the elimination from the tournament, the players had remained united and that there was no blame-game in the squad.
He saluted skipper Rainford Kalaba for the leadership he displayed as he managed to unite everybody.
“We’ve been eliminated yes and we know it’s a disappointment to the fans.  We’ve got a large following back home and all the fans expected us to live to their expectations. Unfortunately, we didn’t perform as per our expectations like I have said.
But one thing for sure which is very good is the team spirit exhibited by the players. Despite elimination which has bruised every player’s heart, the players remain united,” he said.
Munkondya praised the leadership displayed by Kalaba saying there was no finger-pointing in the team as everyone accepted that the team has been eliminated and it is water under the bridge.
“We created chances but we did not utilise them and that’s how we got it wrong. The team came with a lot of young players, if you look at the composition of the team we have about nine or so players who played in the last AFCON and the rest out of the 23 are all new.
We should not lose heart. We believe in these boys, they will come round. They will fly the Zambia flag high,” he said.