Zambia v Guinea – The winner takes it all

Zambia and Guinea started their Total CHAN 2020 Group D campaigns with convincing wins. They will now face-off on Saturday (23 January 2021) in what promises to be a thriller at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium.

Guinea’s Syli Nationale started their campaign with a 3-0 win against Namibia, while Zambia’s Chipolopolo defeated Tanzania 2-0.

Zambia’s coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic, who is making his third CHAN appearance, made it clear that Guinea’s style of play could be to his team’s advantage.

“We shall be ready for any team, and Guinea should know they are coming against a good Zambia team. It is very visible Guinea have a good coach because of the kind of football they display on the pitch. But although we respect them, we respect ourselves more and will go all out to show good football,” added Sredojevic.

The Serb however pointed out that his team will have to upgrade their style of play because they are facing a dangerous team in Guinea.

“Matches are getting tougher and we must uplift our conversion ratio at goal and defend with a lot of discipline,” added Micho who will welcome team captain Adrian Chama after missing the opening game because of suspension.

Sredojevic also noted that the raise of Guinea’s Horoya FC in the League and CAF Champions League is reflecting on their CHAN team which ousted Senegal in the qualifiers.

Guinea Coach Mohamed Kanfory Bangoura has made it clear that they will be out to make their work easy by bagging another win and secure a place in the quarter finals.

“I believe Zambia are the favourites in this group. They play good football with a lot of physical presence,” Bangoura said.

He added that following the opening win, his team is very motivated to get another good result against Zambia.

“We want to make the people of Guinea happy and my players are aware of the task they have as a team. We need to remain focused and work on our attack, and have a tight defense too,” he added.

Zambia Chipolopolo have a better head-to-head against Guinea, having three wins compared to Guinea’s two.