
Zambia which is in the Group F of the AFCON qualifiers has had a bumpy start in the qualifiers campaign, registering a single point and is five points behind leaders Cape Verde.
Katongo declared that though his side will be facing Niger away this weekend, the encounter will be given a lot of seriousness it deserves as such his team will be firing from all the cylinders.
“We are going away and I have told the boys that we are not considering this as an away game otherwise if we just [slip up getting] another one point or zero point we will start to count ourselves out. This is a do or die game,” he declared.
Meanwhile, the Zambia FA has bolstered the Chipolopolo technical team by roping in Dutchman, Nico Labohm to assist the beleaguered head coach, Honour Janza.
Janza has come under fire from a section of the country’s soccer fraternity especially for team’s poor performance in the qualifiers campaign.
The move to engage the services of Labohm who arrived in Zambia early this week and was immediately unveiled to the public is aimed at enhancing the team’s qualification prospects which is hanging by a thread.
According to Zambia FA President, Kalusha Bwalya, the Dutchman has been hired on a short term deal and will be with the team up to end of qualifiers campaign in November.
Bwalya described Labohm as ‘a very experienced instructor and coach’ who also knows a lot of Zambia football.
“He has been here in Zambia before and it was important for us to find somebody who knows a little about the terrain and the situation we are in,” said Bwalya.