Mali will be eyeing a place in the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) knockout stages when they clash with Zambia at the Regional Stadium Nyamirambo in Kigali today in what is expected to be an exciting clash of the titans. Kick-off is at 16h00 (CAT).
The Eagles narrowly edged out the Warriors of Zimbabwe 1-0 in their previous Group D encounter on Saturday as Moussa Sissoko netted a late winner burying the hopes of the Zimbabwean’s from the tournament that they had looked forward to giving a good performance.
Mali went on and drew 2-2 against Uganda Cranes in their first group game that was a thriller in Rubavu settling for 4 points just two behind Zambia’s Chipolopolo who already booked their place in the quarter final stage and top Group D having scored two goals and conceded none.
Mali’s coach Djibril Drame is in no mood for anything less that a positive result when they face Zambia today even though his charges only need a draw to secure a place in the last eight Drame belives it is a match they can win at Nyamirambo
“We have a tough match against Zambia who have been in great shape and my main objective is to get a win to ensure I am safely patched at the top.Of course we know it will not be easy considering the pedigree of our opponents but we don’t want to depend on the mathematical aspect of only getting a draw but we will be looking for an all out win and that is the express instructions I have given to my players”Drame told supersport.com
Mali need a victory or draw with Zambia to book their place in the 2016 CHAN knockout stages.
Meanwhile, Zambia will be looking to finish at the top of Group D with a victory over the Eagles on Wednesday afternoon but after securing two wins coach George “Chicken” Lwandamina is expected to ring changes to his team to give the first team players some rest ahead of the more rigorous quarter final stage of the competition.
“I cannot say that the Mali match is not important because we also want a positive result on Wednesday so that we can finish the group stage with a clean record. If we maintain our momentum it will give us more confidence ahead of the quarter-final,"
“We are taking every match seriously and we cannot underrate any team in the competition that is why Mali should expected nothing less than a great game of football as we would be happy to top the group with maximum points but we will see if any tactical changes will be effected on the team”Lwandamina told supersport.com
Chipolopolo overcame Uganda Cranes 1-0 in their previous Group D match at the Umuganda Stadium in Gisenyi on Saturday with Veteran striker Christopher Katongo netting the solitary goal of the game to maintain their unbeaten run in the competition just few days after beating Zimbabwe Warriors by the same margin,
With six points from two matches, the Southern African giants have already booked their place in the 2016 CHAN knockout stages.
The winner between Mali and Zambia will face Group C's runners-up in Kigali on the 31st of January.
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