Injured Mwepu to miss Equatorial Guinea clash

by Staff Reporter

Tuesday Oct 05, 2021. 11:00

FAZ have officially confirmed that Chipolopolo Zambia midfielder and captain Enock Mwepu will miss the October FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group B doubleheader qualifier against Equatorial Guinea.

Mwepu is struggling with a groin injury that has seen him miss his English club Brighton’s last two matches.

“Injury has knocked out captain Enock Mwepu of Brighton in England. The club medics have communicated that Mwepu has a niggling groin injury that has yet to heal and that he may not be able to feature even if he joins camp,” FAZ spokesperson Sydney Mungala said.

“He will miss both ties on October 7 (away) and October 10 (at home) due to the injury.

“We have enough cover from the players that the coaches have called and we hope they can rise to the occasion and fill the boots that Mwepu has left.”

Mwepu’s last appearance for Brighton was as an unused substitute on September 22 in a 2-0 home win over Swansea during the third round of the League Cup.

Meanwhile, with Mwepu out, Clatous Chama of RS Berkane in Morocco is expected to take the Brighton midfielders’ place.

This is the second successive Group B match that Mwepu will miss.

Mwepu withdrew from Chipolopolo’s match-day-two date against Tunisia at home on September 7 to avoid a Covid-19 quarantine upon return to Britain due to Zambia’s Red-List status during that period.

The Zambia captain last featured for Chipolopolo on match-day-one on September 3 in a 2-1 away win over Mauritania.

In that match, Mwepu scored Zambia’s opening goal in the 10th minute on their way to collecting their only points to date in Group B heading into match-day-three.