From SHAMAOMA MUSONDA In Rubavu –
CAPTAIN Christopher Katongo says the Chipolopolo will today be playing to break the jinx that saw Zambia fail to get out of any group stage at various CAF tournaments last year.
Zambia will be seeking to make the quarter-finals of the ongoing Rwanda 2016 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament with a win over Uganda at the refurbished Umuganda Stadium in an 18:00 hours kick-off.
“Last year we had a bad time in football at tournaments. Be it men or women, we failed to get out of the group and for us here, it’s time to break that yoke. We are playing to win this game and get to the next stage and make our fans happy,” Katongo said at a media briefing.
Topping the group with three points after a win over Zimbabwe, Zambia will secure a last eight spot with a win which will also extensively dent Uganda’s hopes of making the quarter-finals.
Ugandan football has been on a sharp rise and has climbed on the FIFA rankings to the current 62, the highest in Group D, and this means that expectations will be high on the team both from the large band of their fans here and back home.
The Cranes are also the 2015 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup champions and will need to perform to prove the respect they are commanding here but look hard-done by having all teams in the group coming from other regions of Africa.
Already, they started the group with a draw in a rough game that has left their team bereft of two key players in team captain Faruku Miya and keeper Ismael Watenga through injury and then have four players on yellow cards to Zambia’s one.
The Uganda camp lead by head coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic is, however, playing mind games by saying only first choice keeper Watenga is out of the tournament with a groin injury but retained some hope for the teenager Miya.
He even took the crocked captain to the Press briefing to the shock of Ugandan journalists who have been told the player is out of the Zambian game. Furthermore, the player confirmed on social media that he is out of the tournament.
“Miya is here as you can see, I am not a medic person but I can tell you he may or may not play. He shall have a late fitness test on Saturday morning,” Micho said at the Press conference.
Micho said Uganda respected Zambia because of what it had achieved in the past but that was all they would get with the East African country promising to play a fast-paced game and attack Zambia.
His player Miya confirmed he had signed for Belgian side Standard Liege and refused to talk about the matter as he was focused on Zambia.
But these moves on hiding an injury just shows how serious Uganda is taking this match but the expectations in Zambia are just as high about the team’s prospects in this tournament.
That makes for a great match-up between the two sides looking to avoid early elimination.
Zambia played a cautious game against Zimbabwe and there seems to be little change to the midfield formation with Salulani Phiri expected to be the man roaming while Isaac Chansa and Jack Chirwa to be more static.
The key change expected in the game will be resting of Mwape Mwelwa who had a good game, which will see team captain Christopher Katongo drop into midfield with Patson Daka installed to the starting team and to play as a lone striker.
This means that Katongo will revert to the midfield position he played at 2012 Africa Cup but will make forays upfront with Mwelwa remaining a valuable option on the bench.
With Miya out, Muzamiru Mutyaba will come on but with his pace falling short of the team standard which saw their game drop after the two injuries, Uganda will look to have a more compact midfield with Robert Sentongo.
Zambia’s probable starting team 4-1-4-1: Jacob Banda, Daudi Musekwa, Adrian Chama, Buchizya Mfune, Stephen Kabamba, Chirwa, Cletus Chama, Chansa, Phiri, Daka, Katongo.