CHAN2024: Former Chelsea coach confident of taking struggling Zambia to CHAN quarters
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Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 13.08.25. | 14:15
This will be the first time that Zambia fail to advance past the group stages should they not register wins against Morocco and Kenya
Coming into this year’s African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament, being played in East Africa, Zambia was one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
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The team has taken part in three consecutive editions of CHAN, with their best performance being in the tournament's inception back in 2009, when they finished third.
However, two matches later, the team is placed at the bottom of Group A, having lost twice to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
But despite the poor performance, coach Avram Grant insists they have not yet given up on advancing to the next stage.
Speaking after his team lost 2-1 to Angola on Sunday evening, Grant, a former Chelsea coach, said: “We had come here with a new team and there are a lot of positives we can pick from the tournament. Despite the first two losses, we are not giving up.”
Grant blamed individual mistakes for the team’s loss to Angola, a match he says they played way better than against DRC.
“The first match was a disaster for us, but today we played much better. We created six clear chances and scored just one.
We tried our best and missed so many chances, which cost us the match. However, there are a lot of good things I can pick from the loss,” he said.
Zambia have two group matches remaining and must win both to stand any chance of making it past the group stages.
This will be the first time that Zambia fail to advance past the group stages should they not register wins against Morocco on Thursday, 14 August and Kenya on Sunday, 17 August.
They face hosts Kenya on Sunday at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, hoping to pick their first win of the tournament.
Kenya is leading the group with seven points after beating DRC and Morocco by identical 1-0 scores.
They drew 1-1 against Angola. It will be Kenya’s last group match, and a win will ensure they top the group and make it to the quarters.
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