The war of words between Zambia and Madagascar has been cranked up after Chipolopolo coach Beston Chambeshi scoffed at his Malagasy counterpart Franklin Andriamanarivo’s suggestion that Zambia is beatable.

The pair clash on Wednesday in the 2018 COSAFA Cup semifinals at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.

Madagascar face Chipolopolo fresh off a 4-3 post-match penalty quarterfinal victory over hosts South Africa on Sunday following a scoreless draw at Peter Mokaba.

Zambia too advanced to the semifinals via a similar score line against Namibia on Saturday at the same venue in a match Chipolopolo huffed and puffed through before securing their passage via a shootout.

“Football is played on the field, we will meet them on Wednesday so it will be a good game and the 90 minute will tell the result,” Chambeshi told COSAFA.com.

“I think they have to respect us because we are both in the same tournament. All we need to do now is preparing the boys well and see to it that they play at a higher level on Wednesday.”

Zambia are aiming for their second successive COSAFA Cup final appearance following their 3-1 loss to defending champions Zimbabwe last July in Rustenburg.

The teams have met just once before in the COSAFA Cup when Zambia won the third-place play-off in 2008, claiming the match 2-0.