Speaking after the morning training session at Bank of Zambia Sports Complex, Perry Mutapa who is preparing for the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier said the team will be hoping to write their own story.
“We want to put up a very strong squad and qualify to the Africa Cup. In doing so, we have to consider everyone who is eligible,” he said. “It hasn’t been easy because of time. But we are going to give it our best shot.”
Mutapa said his technical bench has drafted some of the lads from the U-17 FIFA World Cup squad to bolster the competitiveness of the team.
“We have the likes of Kalimina (Jonathan), Christo Chitambala and Abel Nyirongo from the U17, so it is important that we tap from the under 17 team which did well at the World Cup,” he said.
Mutapa said despite building the team from scratch he would push the boys to secure qualification to the AFCON.
“I think the boys just need that encouragement. It is a new team, but we are going to fight hard because it has been long since the U20 did well, for now we want to qualify to the Africa Cup, but after that, we have to set a new chapter where we want to go,” he said.
“I think the last time the national under-20 team was assembled was in April 2025 for the last AFCON. This is a completely new team. So, we have to start from the scratch. So, it is not easy, but we are trying our best so that we can put up a squad to be ready for the upcoming tournament.”
“This is a new team from scratch because most of the guys like David Simukonda, the Pascal Phiri and the Kandas (Dominic) are not eligible for this tournament. So almost everyone maybe except the likes of Given Kalusa and David Hamansenya who are part of the national setup. So, I We just have to do with what we have.”
Record 13-time champions Zambia have been drawn in a pool with old foes Malawi, Comoros and Botswana. Only the top team in each group advances to the semi-finals, along with the best runner-up across the three pools.
The two finalists in the competition will qualify for the continental finals next year. Mozambique hosts the Cosafa from September 18-27.
