Sierra Leone Coach Amidu Karim has heaped praises on Zambia stating that they have quality players that deserve a slot to showcase their skill and talent at the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations. Karim shared this sentiment during the Post-match interview after Sierra Leone was eliminated from the 2023 AFCON qualifiers at the Heroes Stadium, Karim tipped Zambia to go flat out and qualify for Africa.

“First, allow me to congratulate Zambia for progressing to the next round. They have a good team that can play quality football. The quality of the Zambia team is something worth applauding and I think they deserve to progress to the next round.They have quality players who deserve a slot at the AFCON so that they showcase their skills and talents.”

Zambia will now face either Egypt or Eswatini in the next Stages of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers thanks to the 1-0 win at the Heroes Stadium in Lusaka. Substitute Andrew Phiri scored the only goal in the 65th minute to give his side a 2-1 aggregate win.

Both sides played to a 1-1 draw in Liberia last weekend. The Zambians are chasing their third straight U23 AFCON qualification after making group-stage exits from the 2015 and 2019 tournaments.