By NDINAWE SIMPELWE –
CHIPOLOPOLO assistant coach Aggrey Chiyangi says there is still a lot of work to be done for the team to win the COSAFA Castle Cup that gets underway in Namibia today.
Speaking after yesterday morning’s training session at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Chiyangi said despite some improvements from the players, the team was still not ready to perform at its best.
Chiyangi said there were a number of areas that needed to be worked on for the next one week before Zambia joins the tournament at the quarter-final stage against Group A winners.
“So far, I think so good. Everyone who is in camp has been working hard.
“We can see a lot of improvements from the first day we started training until today. But again, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to the team. We will continue sharpening the team,” Chiyangi said.
The team broke camp yesterday to allow players feature for their respective clubs in the local league and will regroup on Sunday in Lusaka to continue preparations for the COSAFA tournament.
Chiyangi said one week was enough to work on the areas that needed improvement, especially the frontline.
The Nkana head coach said the cancellation of the friendly match against Namibia had not affected the team’s preparations because the match was going to be just another practice session.
Chiyangi further heaped praise on new call up Emmanuel Banda, the Nchanga Rangers midfielder, whom he described as a good player but cautioned him to quickly switch into a national team player.
Zambia is on bye in the group stages of the COSAFA tournament and will join at the quarter-finals stage to face the winner of the group which has four-time winners Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Seychelles and Madagascar.