Zambia Under20 coach Chisi Mbewe says Senegal gave them a good test despite losing Tuesday’s friendly to the hosts in Dakar.
Young Chipolopolo closed their West African tour with another defeat this time going down 1-0 to Senegal.
The match came five days after losing 4-2 away to Nigeria in Abuja on the first of their two-stop friendly tour of West Africa en route to the 2023 U20 AFCON in Egypt.
Zambia, Nigeria and Senegal are all U20 AFCON bound for the tournament Egypt is hosting from February 19 to March 11.
“We are so happy with the way both teams played it was a good game, a high-intensity game from both sides,” Chisi said.
A 1st minute goal from Bamba Diallo settled the contest.
“We were just unfortunate to allow that early goal in the early seconds of the game but I am so happy with the way the players responded,” Chisi said.
“Both teams played a very highly tactical game with a lot of fighting spirit from Senegal who had a lot of ball distribution and a lot of runs.
“This is was the kind of friendly we needed before the U20 AFCON.”
Zambia leaves Dakar on Thursday and is expected in Cairo late evening before transiting to their Group C base in Alexandria.
Zambia’s Group C opponents are Gambia, Tunisia and Benin.
Chisi’s team will open their Group C campaign on February 21 against Benin.
This is Zambia’s first time back at the U20 AFCON since winning it as hosts in 2017.
