Zesco United have announced their 26 -man squad for the 2016 Caf Champions league. The list has six foreign players including three Kenyans Jessy Were, Anthony Akum and David Odhiambo. Others are Nigerian Ayo Oluwafemi, Ivorian Ben Adama Banh as well as Idriss Mbombo of Congo DR. Oluwafemi and Odhiambo joined the club in the 2015 season while Adama, Were,Mbombo and Akum are all new recruits.
Ivorian defender Ben Adama Banh, 30, joins the club from Guinean side AS Kaloum and has the distinction of having played against Zesco United with two different teams in the Caf Champions League, first with Ivorian side Africa Sport in 2009 and AS Kaloum in 2015.
Kenyan defensive midfielder Anthony Akum has joined from Al Khartoum on a two year contract as has fellow country man Jesse Were who top scored for Tusker in the Kenyan Premier League with 22 goals. Congolese forward Idriss Mbombo is not new on the Zambian football scene having played for Kabwe Warriors in 2015 where he scored 23 goals in the Faz Division One South league.
Other new players listed include Mwila Phiri, signed on a one year loan deal from Green Eagles while goalkeeper Samson Banda has been promoted from the youth team. Kasashi Lupiya and Shemmy Mayembe have been recalled from their loan spells with Forest Rangers.
The 2015 MTN FAZ Super League champions have also announced that Jackson Mwanza will not be joining Thailand side UBON UMT United because the club had failed to secure the player’s visa and work permit.Another notable returnee is utility player Kondwani Mtonga who had a short loan spell with North East United of India.
Zesco United have been paired against South Sudan opposition in the preliminary round of the 2016 Caf Champions League. They will host the first leg during the weekend of 14th to 16th February before travelling to Juba for the second leg during the weekend of 26th to 28th February, 2016.
Zesco United reached the first round of the 2015 Caf Champions League where they were eliminated by AS Kaloum of Guinea.
The team also announced that Humphrey Maseneko, Nyambe Mulenga and Bonwell Silengo were left out of their squad for the 2016 champions league competition because the trio were still recovering from
injuries.
The club reported that Maseneko and Silengo had however started light training
while Mulenga’s return to training had not yet been determined.
Masekeno fractured his right fibula on Saturday, July 27 when he challenged for the ball with the Lusaka Dynamos goalkeeper
Appic Zulu and was thereafter ruled out for at least four months.
Bornwell Silengo has been out since suffering a knee injury in the CAF champions league first leg against Guinea side AS Kaloum in March.
Nyambe Mulenga suffered a broken leg in a road traffic accident in December 2014. He
is waiting for a final assessment review from the doctor to determine when he can start training.
Zesco United players have returned to the club for pre-season training in Ndola. The club will shift camp to Mongu for two
weeks from 10th to 23rd January, 2016.
The squad:
Goalkeepers: Jacob Banda, Brown Nyirenda, Lameck Nyangu, Samson Banda
Defenders: Shemmy Mayembe, Daut Musekwa, Ayo Oluwafemi, Lottie Bwalya, David Owino Odhiambo, Ben Adama Banh,Bernard Mapili, Emmanuel Mayuka,Kondwani Mtonga
Midfielders: Misheck Chaila, Anthony Akumu Agay, Kasashi Lupiya, John Chingandu, Maybin Mwaba, Mwape Mwelwa, Matthews Muzi Nkowane, Clatous Chama Chota, Mwila Phiri,Simon Silwimba
Strikers: Idris Ilunga Mbombo, Lazarous Kambole, Jackson Mwanza, Jesse Jackson Were.
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