By Kalumiana Kalumiana
Red Arrows coach Chisi Mbewe has declared his team ready for the 2026/2027 CAF Confederation Cup campaign which starts this weekend thanks to their intensive program of high-profile pre-season friendlies they have so far played.
Arrows have had a very busy fortnight of pre-season friendlies against local and international clubs, which culminated on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over DR Congo club AS Simba at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka.
It was Arrows’ second friendly against their fellow CAF Confederation Cup campaigners after they met during a pre-season tournament on the Copperbelt last week.
Mbewe said in a post-match interview at Nkoloma that it was now time for Arrows to apply themselves in competitive action this Saturday when they host RC Rouge of Madagascar in the first leg preliminary stage fixture at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
“I think we have played a couple of friendlies in preparation for the competition. And this being our last preparation, I think it has even shown us that now the team is ready to compete in the Confederation Cup. We start our first game this coming weekend, and we are sure of starting on a good note and ensure that we fight and record our first win in Ndola,” Mbewe said.
“So the most important thing is we are going to this game is we need to be disciplined, we need to be focused and we need to be united as a team. I think we have set targets and goals that we want to attain in the Confederation Cup. So the most important thing is we just need to continue reminding them even before we play the first game.”
Meanwhile, Arrows friendly win over Simba came after losing 2-0 to DR Congo champions TP Mazembe on August 23 at Levy Stadium.
Prior to that, Arrows took part in the four-club tournament held on the Copperbelt that started with a 1-0 loss to CAF Champions League envoys Power Dynamos on August 20 at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe.
Arrows followed that up on August 21 with a 1-0 win over AS Simba at the same venue and on August 22 drew 0-0 with Zesco United at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.
“Coming to the game (AS Simba on Saturday), I think we are happy. So far, so good. The way we played, I think the team played according to the way we had planned,” Mbewe said.
“After playing so many friendly games, I think today we looked better. We looked improved in a lot of areas. And I think maybe a bit disappointed again because again we created so many chances, but we failed to convert the chances. But otherwise, very happy with the way we played.”
