Harambee Stars trio in Zesco United squad for Champions

Zesco United will travel to Angola on Wednesday 25 July to take on Primero Agosto in a crucial CAF Champions League clash and Kenyan trio of David Calabar Owino, Anthony Akumu and Jesse Were have been included in the 18-man travelling squad.

Akumu returns to the side after missing the last three matches including the first-leg due to injury.

The Group D clash that will be played on Friday 27 July in Luanda will see the bottom two sides in the group lock horns. Zesco are rooted at the bottom with two points, same as Agosto who edge them out on goal difference.

A win for either side will heighten their hopes of making it to the knockout round with a loss all but assuring their elimination if other results go against them.

Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel top the group with seven points from three games and are followed in second place by Mbabane Swallows of Swaziland who have four points.

Zesco played to a 0-0 draw in the first leg against the Angolans in Ndola, their second draw of the group after match day one’s 1-1 draw at home to Swallows, a game in which Calabar had his name on the score sheet.

Traveling squad;

Dieudonne Ntibahezwa,  Enock Sabumukama,  Mercel Kalonda  David Owino,  Jesse Jackson, Were  Anthony Akumu Agay, Jacob Banda,  Lameck Banda,   Maybin Kalengo, Fackson Kapumbu, Misheck Chaila, John Chungandu, Kondwani Mtonga Mwelwa, Mwape Simon Silwimba, Lazarus Kambole, Winston Kalengo, Solomon Sakala

Zesco United was founded on January 1, 1974, the club have spent most of their history in the top tier of Zambian football. The club’s home ground is the 49,800-seat Levy Mwanawasa stadium in Ndola, Northern Zambia, where they have played their home games since the ground was opened in 2012.

The club is wholly owned and sponsored by the state-owned electricity supplier ZESCO. ZESCO United had their first major success in 1980, winning the old Zambian Division One. After a barren trophy-less spell, they added to that success in the late 2000s as they won another Zambian Division One title in 2003, the FAZ Premier League in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2014, the Barclays Cup in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2014, the Zambian Charity Shield in 2007 and 2011, the 2006 Mosi Cup, and the 2007 Zambian Coca Cola Cup.

Zesco United was founded in 1974. They became the first Zambian club to qualify for the CAF African Champions League Group stage in 2009. ZESCO United are one of only 3 Zambian clubs including Nkana and Green Buffaloes who hold an all-time unbeaten home record against non-Zambian opposition. ZESCO United also became the first Zambian Club this century to play against European opposition when they played against Zenit Saint Petersburg in Abu Dhabi in 2008.

They reached their first-ever semi-finals of the CAF African Champions League after a 2-2 draw away to Egyptian league champions Al Ahly in Matchday 5 of the Champions’ League quarter-final group stage.

They extended their all-time unbeaten home record against non-Zambian teams to 26 games on Saturday, September 17, 2016, after a 2-1 home win against South African league champions Mamelodi Sundowns FC in the CAF African Champions League.

Zesco United are the Zambian club with the largest number of foreign players in the country. In the 2015 season, a Nigerian, Kenyan, and Tanzanian flavor was added to the team with the arrivals of Ayo Oluwafemi and Christopher Chigozie (both from Nigeria), as well as David Owino from Kenya and Juma Luzio from Tanzania. The previous season saw the arrival of Togolese defender Emmanuel Mathias.

ZESCO United are one of the most widely supported Zambian football team in Zambia itself, Africa, and the world. They are passionately known by their fans as Zescolo, Team ya Ziko, Zegalacticos or Team Zega Mambo (with the motto “més que un club” meaning “more than just a club” having been adopted by their Colombian fans). ZESCO United’s traditional fanbase comes from all over the Copperbelt as well as other wealthy parts of Zambia like the capital, Lusaka.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *