Cristoforetti eyeing World Cup qualification at Futsal AFCON in Morocco next month

The TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON kicks off in Morocco in the next few weeks, as Morocco plays host to 8 African nations set to compete for the continental tie.

Zambia, who missed out on the last edition in 2020 will be hoping to make amends, as they aim for one of the FIFA World Cup spots reserved for the top three finishers in the tournament.

CAFOnline sat down with Zambia’s head coach, Andrea Cristoforetti who shared his ambitions for the tournament and why doing well in Morocco is important for the growth of Futsal in Zambia.

Coach you are drawn in a tough Group A consisting of hosts, Morocco – what do you make of the draw outcome?

We got the most difficult group, and it is a difficult group because Morocco is there. Honestly speaking, Morocco is one of the best teams in the world. They have been playing so many games and for us, it will be an honour and learning experience playing against such a team.

They have players playing in Europe, so the squad is really active and internationally experienced. Having said so, the other two teams will be Angola and Ghana.

We don’t really know much about Ghana; we just saw the recent game against Cote d’Ivoire, and they seem to not have played internationally in a while. Then comes Angola, which is our big rivalry – a team that denied us qualification a few years ago. They recently appointed a Portuguese coach which is a friend and a has good knowledge of Futsal so they will be ready for the competition.

We know that we need to win two games to be in the next round but at this point, we are talking about the best teams in Africa and there is no easy group. Our team really needs to compete against the best.

You are making a return to the tournament after missing the last edition, what are the objectives for this year?

Well a minimum target that we have set for ourselves will be to reach the semi-finals. I think it will be the minimum we can do.

When are you looking at going into camp?

We started training and focusing on physical preparation. We are working on a daily basis to find the best conditions in the next few weeks at this point.

Any friendlies lined up?

We had a couple of invitations. For us it is very important that we play. One of the best elements to progress and train is to play real games. We have a couple of invites, and we are trying to see if it is feasible and possible, otherwise we will just do internal games.

How important is it for you to do well so that the sport can grow in Zambia?

Historically we know that when a national team starts competing in an international competition what happens in a country. We have ambitions of qualifying for the World Cup so if the minimum objective is to go to the semi-final, our real ambition is to actually qualify for the World Cup. This is the impact that we have. It is around our league and all the people involved in Futsal and when you see your teammates play in such competitions and perhaps in the World Cup, the whole movement will grow.

My job has always been clear from Day 1, which is to develop Futsal in Zambia and we have been trying to do that all these years with an organic growth. To continue this growth is to try and achieve success and with that, the whole movement will grow.