FAZ appoints new Chipolopolo coach, technical bench

The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) executive committee met on 24thJuly 2021 to chart the way forward with regards to find a coach for the men’s senior national team, Chipolopolo.

FAZ says considering the forthcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers in September-November, and the lengthy recruitment process, it would not be possible to employ a substantive national coach.

Rest of the statement below:

In view of the short time before the commencement of the World Cup qualifiers, FAZ has announced a reconstituted interim technical bench for the Senior Men’s Football National Team to be headed by Beston Chambeshi who will assisted by Numba Mumamba.

In addition, the executive committee appointed Croatian Aljosa Asanovic as Technical Advisor as part of the technical bench.

The reconstituted bench will be in charge for three months.

FAZ says has confidence in both Chambeshi and Mumamba on account of their previous performances with various national teams.

Chambeshi was head coach of the under-20 side that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and guided Zambia to the 2017 Under-20 FIFA World Cup where they reached a historic quarterfinal place.

Mumamba led Zambia to the first ever Cosafa under-17 title in 2017 and has also been head coach of the under-20 national team. He has also previously served as assistant coach at the senior national team.

FAZ is grateful to Nkana and Zesco United for allowing the duo to serve club and country as coaches for a short-term period.

The inclusion of Asanovic is to ensure that there are no gaps in the performance of the national teams. The 55-year-old Asanovic served as assistant coach of the Croatia Football National Team from 2006-2012 under Slaven Bilic.

He also served as assistant coach for Lokomotiv Moscow among other club designations. In his playing career he starred for Italian giants Napoli and Panathinaikos in Greece.

FAZ wishes to thank the Croatian Football Association for allowing Asanovic to take up this appointment, away from his role at the Association where he serves as an instructor in the technical directorate in Croatia.

FAZ is focused on ensuring that we enter the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with a solid technical bench.

By Sydney Mungala, Football Association of Zambia, Communication Manager.