The Football Association of Zambia (Faz) have fired coach Sven Vandenbroeck following Chipolopolo’s failure to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament.
The Belgian coach’s contract expires at the end of March and Faz confirmed that they will not renew it.
Taking over as Zambia coach from Wedson Nyirenda in July last year, Vandenbroeck’s contract demanded that he guides the team to the Afcon finals.
But he only managed one victory, two defeats and a draw, leaving the 2012 African champions at the foot of Group K with just a point.
“… Mr Sven’s contract comes to an end in March 2019 and will not be renewed,” announced Faz in a statement.
“The non-renewal of Mr Vandenbroeck’s contract and the appointment of Mr (Aggrey) Chiyangi and Mr (Numba) Mumamba to the national team technical bench follows a meeting held by the Faz executive committee this weekend.
“Mr Vandenbroek’s last assignment as Zambia national team coach will be the Afcon 2019 Group K game, between Zambia and Namibia to be played on March 23, at which we expect nothing but a resounding win over Namibia.”
Following failure to qualify for Afcon 2019, Faz have now shifted focus on their Under-23 side which is bidding to book a ticket for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Zambia last qualified for the Olympics in 1988 where they famously thrashed Italy 4-0 with Kalusha Bwalya grabbing a hat-trick and take his tally to six goals in three group stage games as Zambia topped Pool B.
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