CHAN: Zambia wants to finish strong against Kenya – Grant

Zambia national team head coach Avram Grant has vowed a strong finish when they face hosts Kenya in their TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) Group A fixture at Kasarani Stadium on Sunday.

“We want to finish the tournament strong. This is our last game in the tournament and we face Kenya who are at home. We need a winning attitude in such difficult times,” he said. “It won’t be easy because we are coming from three losses. It’s a serious game and we want players to give it their best.”

Grant added he was satisfied that he had seen the level at which some players were before considering them for senior national team duty. “We had two stages, first we wanted to create the identity of our team. How we play and behave, just like we did with the first team. It is our last game in the tournament unfortunately,” he said.

Revisiting their disallowed goal against Morocco in a 3-1 defeat, the former Chelsea coach said: “I don’t like to speak about referees, but the yellow cards and the disallowed goal disturbed us in the last game. We sent a letter, and we expect answers from the committee.”

The Chipolopolo lie at the bottom with naught points in three matches and will be looking to record their first win against table topping Kenya. This will be the 35th meeting between Kenya and Zambia, with the Copper Bullets historically dominant with 21 wins to Kenya’s six.

However, Kenya triumphed in their most recent encounter, a 2-1 friendly in 2020. This will be their first meeting at CHAN level—one that carries very different stakes for each side.