Christopher Katongo says he is not retiring from international football

CHIPOLOPOLO skipper Christopher Katongo says he is not retiring from international football any time soon as he still has the power, skill and speed needed for such duties.

Katongo, who had earlier announced that he would retire after the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), said he would be turning 32 this year and that there was still some football remaining in his legs.

In an interview yesterday at the Best of Bikes company offices in Lusaka where he was named the brand’s ambassador, the 2012 Zambia’s AFCON winning captain said there were some players around the world as old as 40 who were still making an impact on the football pitch.

“I am not retiring in 2015 or any time soon as I still have the skill, power and speed. I will be turning 32 this year and still can play until my legs tell me to stop. There are players as old as 40 still making an impact,” he said.

Katongo also said next month’s international friendly game against Japan would give another chance to the upcoming players to be exposed at a high level.

“The friendly game will be a good platform for the upcoming players to test football at a higher level. It is also good especially that we are preparing for the 2015 Africa Cup qualifiers. This will bring the team together and a friendly will help us to know each other,” he said.

He also described the Group F of the 2015 AFCON qualifiers as a tough one because most of the Zambian players had not faced the countries in the pool before.

Katongo said trends in modern football keep changing and therefore every team was good enough to pull a surprise.

“Modern football keeps changing and cannot point at any team as a weak one. I have never played Cape Verde and don’t know what they can offer. The recipe to qualifying for the 2015 AFCON is focusing on winning all the home games and the good thing is there are two slots,” he said.

Katongo said he would be fine seeing former Zambia coach Hervé Renard return to Africa weather in Zambia or any other country.

And Best of Bikes managing director, Richard Sheppard said Katongo had signed a three-year contract with the company as brand ambassador.

He said the company decided to sign Katongo as ambassador because of his level of discipline, enthusiasm shown for people to train in a safe and professional environment.

Times of Zambia