The Zambian government has approved a 3.6 billion kwacha (1 million US dollars) budget for the country's national soccer team to contest the biyearly Africa Cup which will be held next month in Egypt, local media reported Tuesday.

Sports minister George Chulumanda was cited by Zambia Daily Mail as saying the Ministry of Finance and National Planning had agreed to release the funds for the national team's outing and the money would soon be released to the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), which presented the budget to the government.

The national soccer team is currently beefing up its preparation for the game and several friendly matches were organized to hone its skills.

The squad is scheduled to play the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Kitwe in Copperbelt Province Wednesday after last Sunday's 1-1 draw in the warm-up match.

Chulumanda said he was confident that the team would establish a cohesive force in the January tournament.

"This is the team that did well in the World and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, so what was remaining for the team was to sharpen up," he said.

A total of 16 national teams in four groups will participate in the top soccer event in Africa which is slated between January 20 and February 10. Zambia will meet its three rivals, namely South Africa, Guinea and 2004 champion Tunisia in its group.

Source: Xinhua