Zambia national team head coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic believes that his side has the tools to progress out of the group stages at the upcoming 2020 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament.
The Chipolopolo are in Group D where they will face Namibia, Tanzania and Guinea, with their first game against Tanzania on 6 April.
Speaking after the draw in Yaounde on Monday night, Micho said he was confident in his team’s ability.
“It is a quality group. We think we are part of a very competitive group because every team we look at is from the perspective of the local league. And the specific case, they are local players. We represent the Zambian Premier League and we think we have what it takes to get through the group,” the coach told CAFOnline.
“We respect the strength of the Tanzanian Premier League with Simba who reached the Champions League quarter-finals last year. Yanga does just as well in the Champions League. Namibia is also a good team. In 2013 in Morocco, Namibia was in the same group as Zambia and qualified for the quarterfinals.”
Chipolopolo came through the qualifying stages without losing a game, and are playing in the CHAN tournament for the fourth time.
The Southern African nation’s best-ever performance in the tournament was a semi-final appearance in 2009 where they ended up finishing third.
However, Micho feels that they are better equipped to go further this time.
“It is in our interest to prepare each match well and to consider it each time as a final,” he added.
The Serbian gaffer is not new to the CHAN tournament, having coached Uganda at the 2014 and 2016 tournaments where he led the side to third place group stage finishes in both occasions.
The tournament starts on 4 April when hosts Cameroon take on Zimbabwe in Yaounde with Burkina Faso in match number two.
