Kambwili ‘begs’ for a Bundesliga coach

SPORTS Minister Chishimba Kambwili has asked the visiting Germany Parliamentarian Sport Committee to help find a coach from the Bundesliga to drill the Chipolopolo.
Kambwili said this yesterday in response to a question raised by head of delegation Dagmar Freitag, who wanted to find out what priority areas needed assistance.
The minister said he will ask the technocrats to draw up the list of the priorities needed but emphasised that his personal priority was for the delegation to find a well qualified coach from Germany to be attached to the national team.
“My personal priority is for you to assist finding a coach from the Bundesliga to be attached to the national team. I would appreciate a world class coach from the Bundesliga to be attached to the Chipolopolo and even to be appointed as head coach. We don’t have qualified coaches as most of them are just acquiring their CAF C licences,” he said.
In response, Freitag¸ who led a seven-member delegation that paid a courtesy call at the minister, said Bundesliga coaches were too expensive even for the Germany Parliament to afford their salaries.
But Kambwili said that Zambia needed a reasonable coach who was highly qualified even if his was not coming from the Bundesliga.
“What Germany could take as a lowly ranked coach might be a high class coach to us. Some weeks ago I requested for the beefing up of the technical bench but they (FAZ) just brought some chap,” he said.
Kambwili also appealed to the parliamentarians to send more experts to be attached to the Podium Performance Programme which will focus on preparing the athletes for 2016 Olympic Games.
Freitag said the delegation was impressed with what is happening in sport and will try helping Zambia developing sports.
She said Germany had experience in hosting major events having hosted the FIFA 2006 World Cup and will see how best Zambia can be helped in organising big tournaments.
Meanwhile, former national soccer team coach, Roald Poulsen says he would be game if called upon to assist Zambian football.
Poulsen, who guided Zambia to bronze in South Africa in 1996, said that his heart was always with Zambian football and was happy with the progresses made including the winning of the Africa Cup.
He said Zambia is a country that was never short on talent and always produced good players but refused to state whether he would take up the senior national team head coach role stating he would have to look at how demanding that position would be.
“That is a full time job you know, and I am turning 64 next month. And I am not as active as I was but my heart is here in Zambia so I would have to see where I can fit in and give my best.
I have slowed down lately and just get to do one or two things for the Danish FA but I have UEFA Pro License on my wall and trying to enjoy my life,” he said.
He said it was important for FAZ to be attaching all junior national team head coaches to the Chipolopolo so that the national team philosophy gets imbedded into the coaches and the all junior players as well.
Poulsen was in the country promoting a film called ‘Eighteam’ which documents Zambia’s rise from ashes to winning the 2012 Africa Cup where he is featured and currently showing at Freshview cinemas.