Daka eye for goal gives AfCON hope

IN SEVENTEEN days’ time, attention will be on Ivory Coast when the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off.
Twenty-four teams divided in six groups will do battle from January 13 to February 11.
Zambia is among the countries that have qualified for the 34th edition of Africa’s biggest showpiece.
It will be the 18th appearance for Zambia at the Africa Cup of Nations finals, having made a debut in 1974 where the Ante Buselicdrilled squad reached the final at first attempt.
Zambia drew 2-2 with Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), but lost 2-0 in a replay.
It is the only final to have been played twice in the history of the tournament.
The Chipolopolo missed the last three editions, having last competed at the 2015 finals in Equatorial Guinea where they finished third, in a group comprising Tunisia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Cape Verde.
Zambia, who are in Group F and will be based in San Pedro, will start the campaign against neighbours DRC on January 17, then four days later take on another neighbour, Tanzania, and wrap up against Morocco.
The Chipolopolo regrouped yesterday in Lusaka to start preparations for the continental championship.
It is encouraging that star striker Patson Daka is having game time at English Championship side Leicester City.
Daka has found the back of the net four times in the last four matches.
This is good news for Zambia and the national team set-up.
Even when Leicester manager Enzo Maresca benched him for reasons best known to himself, Daka continued working hard and waited for an opportunity to showcase his prowess.
He scored six goals in the 2023 AfCON qualifying race and this speaks volumes of how lethal he is in front of goal.
All the players that will be selected for the Ivory Coast outing should emulate Daka’s winning mentality.
On Monday, national team assistant coach Moses Sichone said Daka’s resilience and fighting spirit are crucial for Zambia’s success at the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
“His (Daka’s) mental strength, fighting spirit, and attitude are key for us. If we had more players with Daka’s mentality, qualifying for the World Cup would be an easy thing. I’m happy for him and the coach from Leicester, I think he has noticed that he was being unfair on Patson for not using him,” Sichone told the Sports Mail.
Sichone is spot on and the onus is on other national team players to up their game so that together they can ably represent Zambia at the Ivory Coast finals.
Zambians are expecting the Chipolopolo to progress to the knockout stage.
Football being a game of surprises, anything is possible and a second AfCON title could be earned if players believe in themselves.
We commend the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) for arranging an international friendly against Cameroon set for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on January 9.
The Chipolopolo might play a second friendly in Saudi Arabia with a yet-to-be-announced opponent.
The friendlies will expose areas that the Avram Grant-led technical bench will need to work on ahead of the continental showpiece.
Compliments of the season and let’s talk football on phiristeve4@gmail.com,sphiri@daily-mail.co.zm.