From MOSES CHIMFWEMBE In Rustenburg, South Africa –
DESPITE Zambia’s dismal performance at the 2015 COSAFA Senior Challenge, the Chipolopolo players have caught the attention of Europe based scouts.
English football expert Andy Dell and Turkish coach Tufan Daz said they are impressed with the performance of some Chipolopolo players at the tournament.
Dell said in an interview here that Zambian players had good technical abilities that could make them land lucrative deals in the European elite leagues.
The Englishman has been hired by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) on a month long contract as a technical advisor to assess the performance of the technical bench ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
“I have been watching Zambia during this tournament and I must say you have some good players, it’s been very interesting to see some players showing  individual brilliance which is very good,” Dell said.
He singled out Green Buffaloes midfielder Allan Mukuka, who scooped the man-of-the-match award during Zambia’s 3-0 win against st Ghana, as one of the Chipolopolo’s top performers at the tournament.
Dell said his England-based Surestream Football Association Academy was working on creating a platform that will see more players from the Southern African region storm the English football.
He said most players in the region fail to make a mark in England because they are rushed without acquiring the necessary experience.
“We want to facilitate for players from this region to play in Middle East or Asia before connecting them to English clubs, that way, they will have gained enough experience to play at a top level and it would be easy for them to cope in the English league,” he said.
Turkish coach Tufan Daz was also impressed with some other players in the Chipolopolo squad.
Meanwhile, Chipolopolo coach Honour Janza said he would be happy to see his  players attract scouts.
Janza said there was need to strike a balance between an opportunity of playing oversees and the protection of players from exploitation.
“One thing I have noticed in Zambia is that we have killed our boys in asking them to be cautious when scouts develop interest in them. We need to ensure that the boys do not lose such opportunities and that they are not exploited. As a nation we will be happy to see players break through to the European leagues,” Janza said.