COSAFA U-17: Chilufya applauds young Copper Bullets despite losing final

Zambia U-17 national team coach George Chilufya is disappointed despite the young Copper Bullets’ failure to defend the COSAFA U-17 Championship.

Chilufya believes the lottery of penalty shootouts can go either way and it was unfortunate that his team was on the losing end. Chilufya said he was very impressed with his team and could not fault them.

“It’s been a long journey, this was our fifth game, I think the boys did their best, They have been fantastic throughout the tournament, Unfortunately, today I can not fault them, penalties are always dicey it can go either way, unfortunately, we came out as the victims otherwise am very happy with the performance of everyone,” he said.

“What is important is to continue, these boys are just developing, We need to keep pushing them and psyching them. The football journey is long and this is just the beginning for them, I think it’s a special group we have with great individual talent, we just need to mold them. For me the tournament has been fantastic it gives us an insight ahead of the AFCON,” he added.

Chilufya is happy with AFCON qualification and wants to build on the positives from the tournament going forward.

Apart from the Player of the Tournament award which was won by South African Mduduzi Shabalala, Zambia picked up the rest of the accolades, Joseph ‘Sabobo’ Banda picked up the Golden Boot for his five goals.

The Golden Glove for best goalkeeper was won by Zambia’s first choice Eric Makungu, Zambia also claimed the Fair Play award. Chilufya believes the accolades are a sign of how special the team he has is.

“Am not disappointed, Yes you can have objectives but it’s how you achieve them, going to the AFCON was the major objective, defending the COSAFA was going to be good but the boys did their best we went as far as the final as I said penalties can go either way, we just need to build on the positives and improve on the negatives,” he said

“I told you we have a special group of 20 players and that is evident that quality is uncomparable so it’s quite encouraging, what is important now is to make sure we correctly nature them,” he added.

South Africa beat Zambia 4-2 on post-match penalties after converting their penalties through Simthandile Sishi, Yamkale Phalane, Lyema Dopolo, and Lindokuhle Mbutho following a 1-1 draw in regulation time.

Zambia scored through Julius Kumwenda and Charles Mumba with skipper Miguel Chaiwa and Rickson Ng’ambi missing their spot-kicks.

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