Chipolopolo coach Aljosa Asanovic says he is not going to stress about Sunday’s away draw against Mozambique in their 2022 CHAN first round, first leg qualifier played in Maputo.
Zambia returned to competitive action on July 24 with a 0-0 draw against The Mambas.
The match came exactly a week after Asanovic’s side lifted a record-equaling sixth COSAFA Cup title in Durban where they beat Namibia 1-0 in the final at Moses Mabhida Stadium on July 17.
“We had a lot of chances to score in the first half and in the second half we started to become nervous and we had problems,” Asanovic said.
“We have a plan, a target, we are playing at home and we will take risks. We will try to win the game.”
Aljosa Asanovic’s side did not return home following their COSAFA Cup victory and instead set up camp in South Africa for three days after the tournament to prepare for the CHAN qualifier.
Chipolopolo returns home on Monday ahead of the final leg on July 30 to be played at National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka.
The winner this weekend has a final round qualifying date against Malawi in August for the ticket to the CHAN tournament Algeria is going to host from January 8-31.
Malawi earned a walkover passage to the final qualifying stage due to opponent Zimbabwe’s continued FIFA ban due to government interference in their local FA’s affairs.
Chipolopolo has qualified for the CHAN five times where they finished third in 2009 and are gunning for a fourth successive outing following quarterfinal exits in their last three appearances.
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