By Burnett Munthali
LUSAKA-(MaraviPost)-President Hakainde Hichilema has congratulated a seventh-heaven salutation to the Zambia National Football team from the coastal city of Durban where the Chipolopolo freshly retained the Cosafa crown.
He said it was such a great milestone for the Chipolopolo to have lifted the Cosafa for the seventh time to become the record winners of the 26-year-old regional crown.
Zambia broke away from Zimbabwe who have won it six times while South Africa are five-time champion.
The Zambian President said for the record Zambia was the champion in 1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019, 2022, and 2023.
Zambia is allowed as a country to take a moment and enjoy some measure of bragging rights as regional champion however, the team will not lose sight of the fact the Cosafa is an opportunity to expose and grow talent.
The Chipolopolo technical bench was able to hand more than half the team a debut national team appearance through the Cosafa.
Hakainde said the bigger picture for Zambia was to give the top performers of our under-23 national team and outstanding league players an opportunity to test themselves on a regional platform.
“We were also using this platform as a chance to afford some of the best promising local coaches an opportunity to hone their coaching skills on the international stage. We had national team assistant coach Moses Sichone assisted by Numba Mumamba, Mwenya Chipepo, Masautso Tembo, and Davies Phiri on this assignment which was a show of confidence in our local resources as they continue to build their coaching credentials.
“Naturally, Chipolopolo coach Avram Grant was working in the background with the technical bench to ensure that there was alignment with the long-term national team vision for Zambia national teams. The next assignment for the local Chipolopolo guns is the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers in a fortnight. The Cosafa has been such a huge platform to prepare for the CHAN assignment at the month-end,” said Hichilema.
President Hakainde Hichilema said Zambia is lucky that the tournament regulations provide for what should be done under such circumstances.
The President, therefore, asked every Zambian to give the team all the necessary support.