The day of reckoning is almost upon us. Its 26th February 2017 and the stage is Lusaka’s magnificent Heroes Stadium.

The young Chipolopolo boys are going to cast the die in a match against West African side Guinea in the crucial opener.

The euphoria and giving our boys pricey tag of favourites could have far reaching consequences in the mental preparedness of the boys.

As a country we are endowed with massive talent, and that has been showing by the under 20 team. The preparation have been spot on in many aspects and that could have given the sense of belief in many of us that we just crown ourselves as champions and head to the junior world cup with the crown.

Winning the Cosafa junior tournament in a flawless and convincing fashion was the dosage of what just the doctor ordered.

The authorities never sat on the laurels to let the boys be swamped in the success but quickly put them to effective drills. Sending them on a trip to Spain and had wonderful preparatory matches with some of finest academies on the world stage. That exposure surely must have given Beston “Quicksilver” Chambeshi all the ingredients to test his boys in terms of areas of deficiencies.

Our all weather friends and fellow tournament participants South Africa were on hand to offer us another competitive match. An almost rehearsal of Cosafa Cup final in which our boys prevailed.

After all is said and done we should all be thinking Football Association of Zambia President Andrew Kamanga and his team at the Football house in gearing the boys up. Kudos too to the Government for the unwavering support to FAZ.

It’s now up to us the football family to reciprocate and show the world that we can be at the two stadiums in numbers to support our boys and the visitors to this beautiful and peace loving country.

The other seven teams that are coming to our shows are not mean contenders for top honours. These are nations that have been there and done. Therefore placing ourselves as favourites is possibly asking too much for the boys. Am not a sadist but a realist. It will be super nice to have another tournament trophy in our cabinet at the football house.

Coach Chambeshi has great work in continuing to psyche his players so that the good performance that the team has enjoyed leading to the 2017 under 20 AFCON is maintained.

It is an honour and great achievement for country to host the tournament of this magnitude. We can only build on that and show the world we have the capabilities.

Go Young Chipolopolo Go!!!