Zambia coach Avram Grant says the Malawi Invitational Tournament was important as it provided an opportunity to try out new ideas and also have a look at new players.

The Chipolopolo drew 2-2 with Zimbabwe and beat Malawi 2-1 in the just ended Four Nations Tournament in Lilongwe. In a post tournament reflection, Grant said he will soon be making an announcement regarding the captaincy of the Chipolopolo for assignments ahead.

The coach said he saw a lot of good things in the Malawi tournament where Zambia emerged third after playing Zimbabwe and hosts Malawi.

“This tournament was a target for us for preparations for the last time before we have qualifiers for the World Cup and for the Africa Cup that last time we came after nine years but now want to do it again,” said Grant.

Grant added with qualifiers for the next Africa Cup of Nations happening within a period of three months the Chipolopolo needed to be well prepared. He added the Malawi tournament had helped him see new players and also try out new things. “We did it very well, we tried different styles of play a little bit, new players that did not play in the first team and also not on the bench, they got a chance and we saw them not only by the games but also by the trainings, in hotel, how they behave because national team is different, you need to know that you are representing the country,” added Grant.

“I think it was very good because we played well in the games, we had a lot of situations that we passed the ball very good, secondly we scored every game two goals, fantastic goals with the team effort, every goal started before with a few passes. The players that did not play before now and got a chance, most of them showed that they can be in the national team.”

The former Chelsea boss further said despite some lapses in the backline for the first game, the team improved in the second game.

“By the defense in the first game, we did not defend well and we conceded two easy goals which we wanted to learn from and we learnt from this. In the second game it was a new back four that did a good job, very good job even the goal that we conceded was a set piece that was an individual mistake.

“I did not like that we conceded two easy goals in the first game but this tournament is about learning that we will not do these mistakes in the important games.”