• CHIPOLOPOLO team players during a training session at the Heroes National Stadium ahead of the Equatorial Guinea 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals next month. Picture by KALUMIANA KULMIANA

By SANDRA MWILA –
HONOUR Janza has expressed happiness that defender Stopilla Sunzu has recovered from his injury and ready to captain the Chipolopolo at the Equatorial Guinea 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals.
Sunzu suffered a hamstring injury and has been out of action since November 7 and missed Zambia’s last two AFCON qualifiers against Mozambique and Niger with Nathan Sinkala captaining the team in his absence.
Janza said in an interview yesterday that according to the reports he got, Sunzu has recovered and was ready to be part of the Zambian team that shifts its training camp to South Africa on January 26.
He said the coaching bench would work towards ensuring that Sunzu gets back to his best before the tournament gets underway.
“According to the reports I have received, Sunzu has fully recovered and there is nothing to worry about because he will be part of the AFCON squad,” Janza said.
Janza was also confident that Sinkala will hit top form despite not seeing much action at his club, Grasshopper in Switzerland.
Sinkala has not played any competitive game at Grasshopper prior to Zambia’s Group F qualifiers away and at home against Niger in October.
But Janza said Sinkala was a determined player and that one month before the AFCON finals got underway was enough time to fine tune him.
“It won’t be a challenge for Nathan to be back to form, one month is enough to prepare him for AFCON finals, I would have been worried if he had an injury,” Janza said.
Meanwhile, Janza has hailed local players for their zeal and commitment exhibited in training ahead of the AFCON finals.
He said the player’s response in training was good adding that it was a sign that they were ready for any competition including the AFCON finals.
“The local player’s response is fantastic, their attitude, behaviour, desire and passion indeed there is something to smile about,” he said.
The coach said the Bafana Bafana clash set for January 4 in South Africa will be a good game to assess progress before the competition starts.
He said his players should use the friendly to add to their AFCON momentum and use it as a platform to learn.
“South Africa is a good team and the Chipolopolo should use the game to learn what is expected of them from the AFCON finals and asses their progress,” Janza said.