By SANDRA MWILA –

THE Government has hailed the Chipolopolo’s qualification to the quarter-finals of the Rwanda 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament.
Sports Minister Vincent Mwale, however, said this was not time for the team to celebrate and get complacent with the victory but to continue  working hard.
Mwale said the Government was happy with the performance of the team at the CHAN tournament and congratulated the technical bench and players.
He said the team should ensure that they top the Group D to give them motivation to go past the quarter-final stage.
“Congratulations to the Chipolopolo technical bench and players for maintaining top slot in Group D and, most importantly, qualifying to the quarter-finals of the CHAN.
“Qualifying to the next round against a good team like Uganda is a good thing. They should maintain the momentum and beat Mali. It will motivate them to win their quarter-final match,” Mwale said.
Mwale said the Chipolopolo were capable of finishing in the top three at the tournament if they continued with the same performance.
He said the inclusion of captain Christopher Katongo and Isaac Chansa had yielded positive results and commended the good decision by the technical bench to blend the team with experienced and young players.
“It was good to have experienced players like Chansa and Katongo. They have shown good leadership and the young players should learn from them,” he said.
Chipolopolo Soccer Fans Association (CSFA) chairperson Yotam Mwanza said the team should consolidate their Group D lead by beating Mali to finish top.
“It was a good win against Uganda. You can see that the team is improving from the first game against Zimbabwe. What the boys need is to beat Mali and consolidate top slot finish in Group D.
“Kudos to the technical bench and players, they have been really putting up a good performance at CHAN and they have managed to put smiles on the face of Zambians,” Mwanza said.