Chipolopolo coach Wedson Nyirenda says his players showed some level of complacency in the 1-1 draw against Namibia on Monday night at the Mohammed V Stadium.
And Namibia coach Ricardo Manetti said his team was extra motivated to upset Zambia from topping Group B and head back to the resort city of Marrakech.
During a post-match press conference, Nyirenda said his side was still on course on its overall objective of lifting the trophy.
“First and foremost we came into this tournament with the aim of winning this cup. We may go through some obstacles here and there but that is the name of football. We are getting somewhere,” he said.
“We are going to meet Sudan in Marrakech, it is not going to be an easy game. Every game that we have played has not been easy. You saw the way Namibia was coming at us, it was not an easy game.”
He added: “My players were very complacent and thought it was going to be an easy game. We were shocked in the first half, Namibia got the goal first but we reacted and came with an equalizer through our young boy Lazarus.”
Nyirenda said, “One thing I can say about the team is that they have shown a lot of character that they want to win despite all the difficulties that we are getting into at times.”
And Manetti said Namibia would be happy to meet the host nation on Saturday in order to have an opportunity to play before a full stadium.
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Now that we know that are playing Morocco I do not think that we should be under any pressure as Namibia the stadium is going to be packed (80, 000), my players are going to enjoy the occasion, they will love it,” he said.
“We are tired of playing in empty stadiums, we deserve playing in the quarterfinals and we deserve to play before a full stadium. I am looking forward to play Morocco on Saturday.”
The Namibia coach said that his team had harboured a secret motivation to return to the resort city of Marrakech.
“Let me tell you a secret, my players loved Marrakech, the main motivation to win the game tonight was because they wanted to go back to Marrakech,” Manetti said.
“They loved the city and staff at the hotel. And I told them to go back to Marrakech they needed to be on top of the group. I think that was a little bit disappointing. If I tell them about the huge turn out on Saturday they are going to be head over heels.”
Zambia and Namibia qualified to the quarterfinals ahead of Ivory Coast and Uganda.
The two sides shared the spoils to end on seven points apiece but Zambia top the pool thanks to a superior goal difference.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/FootballAssociationZambia/
