Chipolopolo coach Milutin Sredojevic says the minimum target at the Cameroon 2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN) is a quarterfinal finish.

Giving his views on the draw that placed Zambia in Group D alongside Tanzania, Guinea and Namibia, Micho described the group as competitive.

Micho who was in Yaonde to witness the draw said he was mindful of the record that Zambia had qualified out of the group stages at the previous three editions they have featured at the CHAN.

“Each of the teams that have qualified to the CHAN have come through the qualifiers which makes them an extremely hard nut to crack,” he said.
“I will like to say that we got a very competitive group with the team of Guinea, Tanzania and Namibia although they are teams we have met in the past, we believe that every match will be a rollercoaster that will help us grow from match to match that will help us improve in performance.”

The man dubbed the Serbian wolf said with the groundwork his technical bench was making they would be able to make the country proud.

“In such an aspect of a very competitive group, I expect the Chipolopolo to make the nation proud and happy,” he said.
“We know Tanzanians are good in transition and very good defensively, they never give up but we need to plan very well. The game is not starting on the 7th of April but the game starts now, the way we shall prepare and be a step ahead of them in theoretical awareness, to know about them much more than they can know about us.”

He said, “We need to make our team mentally strong, physically fit, technically, tactically and practically competitive. I have no doubt that in the end quality that is on our side will prevail.”

The Chipolopolo gaffer added: “Whenever Zambia has qualified to the CHAN they have passed the group stage. When you have that in mind we need to know that our minimum target is to go to the through the group and looking at reaching the quarterfinals. After the quarterfinal, every single match is like a final before the final.”
He said Guinea would present a unique challenge given the strength of their local league.

“Looking at the fact at present of Guinea is that we need to look at them through the prism of their best team Horoya owned by the president of the federation and many extra talented players are playing and are a leading team in CAF games,” he said.

Micho gave his thoughts on the decision by CAF to allow teams to field a maximum of four players plying their trade abroad if they so wished.
“As per CAF new rules where we can field four extra players that are playing outside the country, it is an opportunity for us to feature some players that are playing outside Zambia.

However, I personally believe that we need to stick with locally based talent to open doors for them,” he said.
Zambia will open its Group D encounter with a clash with the Taifa Stars of Tanzania.3

The Chipolopolo have qualified to three straight CHAN editions with the 2018 campaign ending in a quarterfinal finish.
Micho has started building his local squad with the second local camp underway to summon the best of the local talent that will be part of the CHAN and also Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

The tournament will take place from April 4 to 25 in Cameroon.

Kelvin Trudeau Musako

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