Football is not played on paper – Avram Grant

Zambia coach, Avram Grant is a reserved man when he has to discuss his team's objectives at the 34th edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

The former Ghana head coach, who guided the Black Stars to a TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2015 silver medal was speaking to CAFOnline just days before their opening Group F match against DR Congo on Wednesday, 17 January. 

“I don’t like setting goals before a competition. The most important thing is how you approach your matches. We need to improve. I know it's a difficult group with Morocco and DR Congo and there are teams better than us but football is not played on paper. When we go on the pitch, it will be to win,” Grant told CAFOnline.

“We want to do well in matches. We have to be realistic. With my players, we know what we have to do. Our goal is to do well during the group stage and then we will see,” he added.

“We will see during the first match if my players are ready. But I know they are motivated. We have a good team, great individuals. We will be ready for sure”, concluded the coach.

Following their opener against RD Congo, they then take on Tanzania on 21 January before concluding their group matches on 24 January against Morocco.