Zambia national team coach Avram Grant has urged his side to showcase their quality and passion when they face Lesotho in their latest Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Thursday.
Kick-off is at 6:00pm (SA, GMT+2)
Lesotho and Zambia will square off at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium on Thursday evening, with the latter in a position to claim top spot come the end of matchday 3 in group H.
Lesotho, on the other hand, is yet to win a game in their 2022 Afcon qualifying campaign and sit bottom of their group standings.
However, Zambia are winless in their last four encounters in all competitions, while also having an international friendly against Mali cancelled in September last year. As it stands, Zambia are second in group H, one point behind leaders Ivory Coast.
Is the ???? showing? It's #AFCONQ matchday -1! Zambia takes on Lesotho on Thursday 23 March at Levy Mwanawasa stadium in Ndola. K/O is 18h00! Tickets available in CompuTicket across all Shoprite stores countrywide. #WeAreChipolopolo pic.twitter.com/6FUMu2DN9I
— FAZ (@FAZFootball) March 22, 2023
In their first Afcon qualifier, Zambia suffered a 3-1 away defeat against Ivory Coast on 3 June 2022, while claiming maximum points against Comoros in a 2-1 win four days later.
Speaking ahead of the tie against Lesotho, Grant urged his side to showcase their quality and said that the players have to represent their country with pride.
“The door is open to everybody, The door for me is open for any Zambian around the World," Grant said.
“They need to show three things: Quality, passion and will to give everything for the country because they are not representing themselves but the country.
“They need to give everything to make the people happy, I will make sure it happens.
As for Lesotho, Veselin Jelušic’s side recorded a mixed bag of results in recent months. In their last five matches across the board, Lesotho recorded two wins, two draws and one stalemate.
Lesotho are yet to bag maximum points in their Afcon qualifying games, recording a 2-0 loss to Comoros and a 0-0 draw against the Ivorians last year.
However, Lesotho claimed wins against Malawi and Mauritius in the Cosafa Cup in July 2022, which were two of their three wins throughout last year.
Speaking after their 1-1 draw against Malawi in an international friendly earlier this year, Jelušic described the game as unimportant and that the tie against Zambia is foremost in their minds.
“The result is less important for us,” Jelušic said.
“What is important is our preparations for the Afcon qualifier against Zambia.
“But Malawi team is strong team. You had more chances during the game but in the second half we were a better team. Overall I am satisfied.”