Chipolopolo Boys forward Patson Daka is excited to play a high profile friendly match since the Copper Bullets did not qualify to the FIFA World Cup.
Daka is expected to lead the Chipolopolo Boys as they take on the Chosen Team, Israel in an international friendly match on Thursday.
Daka says the team will do their level best and will use this match to prepare for future engagements.
The Leicester City forward believes Zambia has a great group of players who are doing well at club level and need to give fans what they deserve.
“I think looking at the situation right now that we did not qualify to the World Cup, I think it’s also important for us that we have this high profile friendly match. We were all looking forward to this , we were all excited about it because we wanted to play such games,” he said.
“We are going to do our very best. We are going to use this challenge as our preparation for what we want to do going forward.”
“I think we have a very good group and we just have to stick together. We have trust in each other and are all doing well at our clubs. This is a great opportunity to come together and represent our country. This is the time for us to give our fans what they deserve,” he added.
The match will be the first since skipper Enock Mwepu was forced into early retirement after being diagnosed with a hereditary heart condition.
Daka believes the Computer needs support from everyone the same way he has been supporting the team through and through.
“Well to be honest it’s a very personal issue (Enock Mwepu) it will be unfair for me to go into details. I think it’s time to give our support to him in every way we can. We know how important he is to us even when he is not here because he is always in contact with us. We just have to continue being there for him like he has always been there for us.”
The match will be played on Thursday at 20H00 CAT at the Hamosheva Stadium.
The match is being used as part of preparations for the back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Lesotho in March next year.
