Lubambo - Zambia Eager to impress in friendlies

by Staff Reporter

Friday May 28, 2021. 18:00

Polish -based Chipolopolo Zambia midfielder Lubambo Musonda says they are treating the June friendlies as qualifier-grade encounters.

Zambia has secured three away friendly games in June against Senegal, Benin and Sudan.

On Thursday, Zambia coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic named a provisional 36-member team for the tour.

Lubambo, of Slask Wroclaw, together with Russian-based midfielder Klings Kangwa are the first of the fourteen foreign-based call-ups for the tour already in camp that began on Thursday afternoon in Lusaka.

“We will not take them as friendly games and we will take them as qualifiers so that we get to see the level we are on,” Lubambo said.

Chipolopolo will use the friendlies to fine-tune for this September’s kickoff of the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup Group B qualifiers against Mauritania away on match-day-one in Nouakchott and Tunisia at home in Ndola on match-day-two.

“We have a lot of very good time to prepare and these friendly games have come at a good time for the September qualifiers,” Lubambo said.

“They are good friendly games and they are top games and I think we will learn one or two things from them.”

Twenty one players in total were part of Friday’s full-day training session under Micho at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka.

Chipolopolo will kick off the tour against Senegal in Thies on June 5.

Zambia will later fly to Cotonou to play Benin on June 8.

The tour will conclude at Omdurman on June 11 against Sudan.