Zambia Football Coaches Association (ZAFCA) has urged the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) to retain Patrick Phiri when his contract expires in December this year, the Post reported Tuesday.
The local newspaper quoted ZAFCA general secretary Simataa Simataa as saying here that the Zambia's 3-1 triumph over South Africa Sunday granting the Chipolopolo boys automatic qualification to the MTN Africa Cup of Nations next year justified his stance on local coaches.
"This is a time Patrick needs a full contract to take the team to the Africa Cup in Ghana," he said.
Apart from sending Phiri to coaching courses, Simataa urged FAZ to adequately prepare the national team of Zambia for the 16-nation tournament.
"Now, I have ammunition to defend my stance. Patrick has proved it. We don't need an expatriate coach. What is an expatriate coach going to think that we can't think ourselves?" he asked.
Simatta said Phiri was pitted against World Cup wining coach Carlos Alberto Parreira of Brazil on Sunday in Cape Town, South Africa but managed to deliver a good result.
"Parreira is a world class coach, no doubt about it. But what happened? Let's invest the money to pay an expatriate in training and building capacity in our local coaches," he said.
Simataa said FAZ should soon draw up a program to prepare the Chipolopolo boys for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana.
The position of Zambia coach fell vacant after the resignation of Kalusha Bwalya in June last year and has been currently occupied by Phiri.
Zambia is in a hurry to engage a foreign coach but disagreements on who should be always haunt.
Source: Xinhua
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