16.06.2023 | Kabwe Chishimba ✍
Having won their last two games, the Chipolopolo boys are in high spirit to do battle with the Elephants of Ivory Coast in a crucial encounter tomorrow. Avoiding defeat in tomorrow's encounter will guarantee Zambia a place at the AFCON for the first time since 2015. But the big question is 'Can Zambia outsmart the Ivorians?'
Tomorrow's game is vital because not only will the result affect our quest for an AFCON appearance but also assess our team's proficiency against strong opponents like the one we're facing tomorrow.
Our Defense will surely be tested and will be able to see if the new partnership has the required resilience to withstand an opponent with such quality as the Ivorians. We hope to see how coordinated and composed the boys in that department can be to avert any threat that will come our way.
The Midfield with a lot of names in form will be the area of focus and a lot of work will be expected. In addition to that, some compactness will be required and we do not need to see what happened in the last encounter against Lesotho, there were some instances where there was some miscommunication and some misdirected passes which eventually left the middle of park exposed and this put pressure on the defense. Now considering the kind of opponent we're facing tomorrow such mistakes might be punishable and we hope that the coach has covered such loopholes. Creativity will also play a huge role in an encounter like this one, it is in such games that a midfielder can sneak in a pass, a through ball, take a long range short, turn at a certain angle, dribble one/two to find some space or come up something that can result into a goal.
Our attack looks good and we expect the boys upfront to thrive amidst a very solid defense of our opponent and create chances that can result into a goal. It will be good to see constant attacks from both flanks like last time with the same coordination. We hope to see even more of that tomorrow.
This is Coach Grant's first game against one of African football giants and it'll be good to see how he can devise tactics that can contain them. Expectations are high and we want a satisfying result tomorrow but Chipolopolo will surely be TESTED!
All the best Chipolopolo.
GO ZAMBIA GO!
KABWE CHISHIMBA
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