The Zambian National football team arrived in Goa today to play two friendly games - against Goa XI on Saturday and India on November 29 - during the golden Jubilee celebrations of the Goa Football Association. The visiting team is nicknamed as 'Chipolopolo' (Chi-Polo-Polo) which means "Copper bullets" as copper is one of the nation's main exports. Zambia was once on the 15th position in the FIFA rankings in 1996,but their rankings fell with time and they are currently placed 80th. Their proudest moment was when they crushed European champions Italy 4-0 in Olympics of 1988 in Korea. Managed by French coach Herve Renard,the Zambian team reached the quarterfinals of the prestigious "African Nations Cup" after a gap of 14 years in 2010. Many of their players play in leagues across the world; notable among them are Chris Kotongo and James Chamaga who play in the Chinese top League,and Felix Kotongo who plays with the famous Asian team Al-Ittihad. Keeping in mind the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations,coach Herve Renard,who arrived in Goa this morning along with 20 players and eight officials,wants to use the two friendlies to asses their local players before finalising the final squad for the AFCON. After watching his team play against Nigeria,the French coach was not impressed with the fitness of the team,so also the defence and the strike force which needs to be polished. The two friendlies against Goa and India will be ideal to assess the local players for the inclusion in the AFCON squad where they will play against tough opponents - Libya,Senegal and hosts Equatorial Guinea in group A.
