By FELIX MALUNGA –
SOUTHERN African pride will be at stake this evening when the Zambia Under-20 soccer team face sworn regional rivals, South Africa in a formality Group B match at the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal.
With both teams eliminated already from the tournament, this evening’s match at Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in Dakar will all be about pride for Hector Chilombo’s troops.
The Zambia Under-20 squad was hoping to restore the nation’s pride at the continental championship following early ejection of the senior and Under-17 teams at the respective 2015 African competitions but Chilombo’s charges fell by the same sword.
Zambia and South Africa failed to win or draw any of their opening two games to miss out on a semi final place.
South Africa lost 2-0 to Ghana before losing 2-1 to Mali while Zambia lost 1-0 and 2-1 to Mali and Ghana respectively as both the COSAFA representatives were knocked out of the junior tournament.
After losing the first two group matches, the junior Chipolopolo want to wrap up their tour of duty in West Africa on high by beating their regional arch rivals.
“I know we are out but we shall try to win the game because there is still the country’s pride at stake,” Chilombo told a Press briefing in Dakaron Friday.
Assistant captain Spencer Sautu also believes the squad has a duty to restore some pride for itself by winning the game tonight.
Sautu also called on the Zambian soccer fans to rally behind the team even in hard times.
“Zambians are disappointed we know but this team has good potential for the future. We shall come back and play good football for the country. The early exist is not necessarily the end of all things,” he said.
Amajita coach, Thabo Senong said while the two defeats for South Africa were disappointing, he rallied on his troops to play competitively against the junior Chipolopolo despite being an academic fixture.
“The modern environment entails to take each game seriously whether you have lost your way in the competition or otherwise. It is a culture you have to inculcate in today’s players.
“While we will give each player a run on Sunday (today), we will still play to win,” the 34-year old mentor told the Supersport.com.
Senong said the 2015 CAF Under-20 Championship was a huge learning curve for South Africa and its technical staff and were now wiser going forward.
“We expected to do better than what we achieved but that is the nature of this sport, you at times lose but in doing so, must learn and correct your mistakes.
“I still don’t believe that there is a huge gap between COSAFA countries and those in West Africa. The only difference maybe is that the competition in this part of the world is more comprehensive than in Southern Africa where a few countries perform well on constant basis,” he said.
While the two regional rivals will be at each other’s neck in Dakar, already qualified Ghana and Mali will be clashing in a West African derby to decide which team tops Group B.