Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Rainford Kalaba
Zambia national football team captain Rainford Kalaba hopes the team will start and finish the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign on a strong note.
Zambia host Mozambique in their Group K opening match at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium on Saturday and Kalaba believes that starting with a win would help set the tone for the qualifiers.
Zambia failed to qualify for the 2017 Afcon in Gabon after they finished in third position behind Guinea Bissau and Congo-Brazzaville in Group E which also contained Kenya.
“We are hoping for a good start because we did not go to the Afcon last time. This is a new challenge which gives us another chance to go to the Afcon in 2019,” Kalaba said, following a training session at the at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium on Wednesday.
Kalaba reckons that there is a lot of expectation from fans for the team to perform especially after the U20 men’s national football team won the U20 Africa Cup of Nations and reached the FIFA U20 World Cup quarter finals this year.
“There is a lot of pressure on us because of the U20 national team. The senior national team is receiving a lot of criticism so the only thing we can do for our country is to win on Saturday. We want to remind our fans that we are the same team which won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012,” Kalaba said.