Mulwanda admits Zambia wary of ‘wounded’ Egypt in U-20 AFCON test

Photo Credit - Football Association of Zambia (FAZ).

Zambia national team U20 coach Boyd Mulwanda says the entire squad is fired up and ready to give their all as they prepare to face hosts Egypt in a Group A encounter of the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations at Suez Canal Stadium on Saturday.

While Egypt beat South Africa 1-0 in their pool opener but then lost 4-1 to Sierra Leone, Zambia played to a 0-0 draw with the West Africans in their only game to date. Egypt and Zambia will meet at the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 AFCON for a third time. Zambia have won both of the sides’ previous two meetings.

However, Egypt’s defeat to Sierra Leone has left Mulwanda worried of coming up against a wounded side. He is, however, confident his charges are ready to produce their first game of the tournament against the hosts.’

“We have prepared well for the Egypt game, everyone is positive, and everyone is putting his efforts to try and get a positive result against Egypt on Saturday,” Mulwanda told FAZ Media.

“It is the most dangerous part when a team is coming from a loss, because they will try to recover from the defeat, it will not be easy because they know that they have lost the previous game.

“They will want to make amends and win the next match which unfortunately is against us (Zambia), but looking at the way the boys have been preparing, I think everyone is ready and prepared to fight for the team.

“The point we got from the first draw is very important, it will motivate us to go for a win in the second match, we need to win this tournament, and if you checked the previous editions that we have played, we have never won a game, but this one at least we have to tell the boys that we have to win a match in this competition.”

Sierra Leone lead the group with four points after defeating Egypt 4-1 in their second outing, while Egypt and South Africa are tied on three points each. Tanzania remain bottom without a point.

Group A remains the most competitive of the tournament’s four groups, featuring five teams in a tightly contested race for quarterfinal qualification in this 17th edition of the U20 AFCON, which comprises 13 participating nations.

With two matches left against Tanzania on May 6 and regional rivals South Africa on May 9, Zambia must secure a win to boost their qualification hopes and avoid the psychological burden of playing catch-up.