By Mubukwanu Kaingu
Chipolopolo will play 2021 third-place finishers and five-time African champions Cameroon in a friendly next month at Zambia’s pre-23 ACON international camp in Saudi Arabia.
Zambia will hold an international training camp in the Saudi capital of Riyadh from January 1 to 12 before heading back to Africa to participate in the AFCON Ivory Coast is hosting from January 13 to February 11.
Football Association of Zambia President Andrew Kamanga said in an interview that Football House has received substantial requests to play Chipolopolo in pre-AFCON friendlies.
Kamanga said the game against Cameroon would be the last of two pre-tournament friendly games before heading to the AFCON where they will be based in the Ivorian port town of San Pedro.
“One friendly I can confirm is Cameroon, but the second one, we will be able to confirm as we go along,” Kamanga said.
“But with Cameroon, we are more or less settled; it is on the 9th of January and will be played in Saudi Arabia.
“But the one we are supposed to play on the 5th, we are still trying to finalise but we have got a couple of options.
“In fact, we did also receive an invitation just last week from (AFCON champions) Senegal who wanted us to play them in Dakar but unfortunately we are camping in Saudi Arabia so we cannot go to Senegal.
“So everyone is interested in playing Chipolopolo.”
Chipolopolo and the Indomitable Lions will be meeting for the first time since June 9, 2019, when Cameroon beat Zambia 2-1 in a friendly played in Madrid, Spain.
Zambia is returning to the AFCON for the first time since 2015 but thereafter failed to qualify for a record three successive tournaments.
Chipolopolo will mark their AFCON return in
with dates against DR Congo on January 17, Tanzania on January 21 and 2022 FIFA World Cup semifinalists Morocco.
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