We have quality players to face Eagles, others —Zambia coach

Zambia head coach, George Lwandamina has dismissed claims that his side’s failure to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is a sign that they don’t have quality players that will face Nigeria’s Super Eagles and other teams in the race for the 2018 World Cup ticket.

The Chipolopolo ended their campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Harambee Stars of Kenya at the Levy Nwanawasa Stadium last Sunday and finished third in group E behind Guinea Bissau and Congo to miss Gabon 2017 ticket.

Zambia begins its 2018 World Cup campaign on October 3 in Ndola and Lwandamina says he is not losing sleep over the cracker.

“We have so many players and we have previously cast the net wide. But many are called, few are chosen,” Lwandamina told fazfootball.com.

“This is the international scenario we are talking about. It is totally different from the local league.

“Some players may shine in the local league, but for reasons best known to themselves they tend to be overshadowed when called to the national team.

“This is down to lack of exposure. Until we start exposing players to the international scenario we will keep facing the same challenge.

“This was close also the case with former coach, Havre Renard. He called almost 200 players but none of them played for the national team except for Mbola. The rest were players who were built way back, those are the players he used.”