Avram Grant has pinpointed Chipolopolo’s brief stay at the 2023 AFCON.
Chipolopolo who had qualified for their first AFCON since 2015 and missed the next three, made a group stage exit in Ivory Coast without a win with 2 points to finish 3rd in Groups F.
Zambia closed their campaign on Wednesday with a 1-0 loss to group F winners Morocco at their base in San Pedro.
Grant said in his post-match briefing that Chipolopolo should have won their penultimate group F game against Tanzania which finished 1-1 on January 21, in a match that they ended with 10 men after Roderick Kabwe was sent off in the 42nd minute.
“I am very angry with the referee who I am told was inexperienced. It reminded me of the old days of referees,” Grant said.
“If you look at the last game (against Tanzania), the red card cost us and it wasn’t a red card.”
Grant added that he was shocked that the 76th minute foul on Lameck Banda was not given as a penalty.
But Grant conceded that his team was a work in progress.
“I am very proud of the boys, they have done a lot in developing,” Grant said.
“This is a young team and all the players can continue playing in the next AFCON.
“It was just lack of experience the team had and to be honest I am very proud of them and they deserved to go to the next round.”
Chipolopolos exit saw them make a third successive group stage now from the AFCON.
The last time Chipolopolo advanced to the knockout round was in 2012 when they won the AFCON title.
