FOR the record eighth time since 1974, Zambia failed to go beyond the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) football tournament.
At the ongoing 30th AFCON edition in Equatorial Guinea, the Chipolopolo finished bottom of Group B on two points following two draws and one loss.
Tunisia and DR Congo emerged from the group and qualified to the quarter-final as Cape Verde and Zambia bade farewell to the continent’s most prestigious football competition.
A lot has been said by several local football fans concerning the Chipolopolo’s second straight ejection from the AFCON.
Others have already produced their ‘knives’ calling for the cutting out of coach Honour Janza from the Chipolopolo top job.
Janza made a bold decision by leaving out several veteran players out of the final 23-man squad with the fans alleging that his move to some extent contributed to the team’s failure return home just after three games in Ebebiyin.
The fans’ concerns are understandable because we Zambians are so passionate about the ‘beautiful game’ to an extent that we find it difficult to accept defeat especially at this stage of African football.
Lest we forget, Zambia struggled at the start of the 2015 AFCON qualifiers, drawing twice with football minnows, Mozambique and Niger, respectively and of course losing to Cape Verde.
This happened as most of the experienced players, who were AFCON winners in 2012, were still part of the Chipolopolo set-up.
Janza then dropped a bombshell and overlooked several veteran players for the remaining three crucial qualifiers as the Chipolopolo desperately wanted to avoid an embarrassment of failing to reach the AFCON.
Mind you, failure to qualify to the AFCON is an ‘unforgivable offence’ in Zambia.
By bringing in mostly youthful but talented players from the junior ranks whom Janza tried to blend with some experienced footballers, Zambia eventually made it to the AFCON for a record 17th time.
The youth and experience made this to happen (qualifying to the AFCON) and most of the football ‘experts’ lauded this move by Janza to begin rebuilding the squad.
Indeed, when he announced his squad for the AFCON, Janza mentioned that he was trying to build a team for the future which should be ready to fight for continental glory by 2017.
The squad captained by Rainford Kalaba showed a lot of promise in Equatorial Guinea despite not getting past the first round.
Our 23-man AFCON squad had only nine senior players from the class of 2012 with the rest being newcomers to this level of African football.
Cameroon and South Africa among other African countries are also undergoing similar rebuilding processes and coincidentally they both teams just like Zambia, failed to make it to the quarter-finals.
Just a peep into the past, most members of the Chipolopolo squad, which eventually lifted the 2012 AFCON title, had been with the team since 2006.
In 2006 and 2008 AFCON editions, the Chipolopolo were bundled out in the group stage but later made the quarter-final appearance at the 2010 tournament in Angola, the first time for the nation since 1996.
Two years later, the team was able of conquer Africa and become AFCON kings for the first time in Zambia’s football history.
Probably, it is time for us again to be slightly patient with this squad and I believe if everything is done properly Zambia should shine again at the AFCON soon.
In fact most of these teenage players will be involved in two continental championships for the under-20 and 17 respectively this year.
The Under-23 squad will also be participating in the Congo 2015 All Africa Games qualifiers and probably make it to the final tournament.
Zambia should surely come up with a strong senior team soon, considering the experience these success-hungry teens will marshal from their respective competitions.
The 2017 AFCON and 2018 World Cup qualifiers are also coming up in June and October respectively, and this will be another opportunity for building a formidable Chipolopolo team.
Let us not be too judgmental and vilify these lads as doing so can potentially end the careers of some of these youngsters.
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