Zambia’s Felix Katongo: “I have surprise for Algeria”

Zambia’s midfielder Felix Katongo says he has a surprise to the Algerian football team to be announced on the pitch. He considers Sunday’s match against Algeria is the decisive event for both teams to qualify to the African Cup.

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• How were the preparations going on to face the Algerian players?
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• I think they were ok though we had some troubles. Some professional players came late. Yet, we are ready for the match.
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• You team could not win any match since the game against Rwanda. Didn’t have moral effect on you in Sunday’s match?
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• I do not think those matches have a big effect as they were called preparatory matches. Except the home match against Algeria, the other results we did in the friendly matches can not be taken in consideration for many reasons.
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• What are those reasons?
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• A large number of professional players did not attend the preparations. Yet, the serious thing is always in the official matches. The Zambian team has now a large number of professional players.
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• Most of the team is professional players. Why is that?
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• I think our players are young. European clubs are interested in them and even in South Africa. This is the main reason for calling them in to play for the national team. I think the professional players have enough experience to make the team go ahead.
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• You will play against Algerian professional players. What do you think about them?
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• I think the Algerian team is the most likely to qualify in our group. They play a modern game thanks to the professional players and their tactics. But we are well-prepared for this match.
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• The Greens will play in their country. Don’t you think that would play a role in the match result?
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• That may be a factor in favour of the Algerians but it may be the opposite. You should know that our team plays well in matches out of Zambia. This is our strong point and we will benefit from it.
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• Organisers transferred the match from a large stadium to Tchaker stadium in Blida (35 km west of Algiers). Don’t you have fears of pressure from the Algerian fans?
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• No. Our players are professional and they play modern game. We have already faced tens of thousands of fans in the match against Egypt. We are not afraid of that because we know how to deal with such pressure.
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• What are your chances in qualifying to the World Cup?
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• Our main goal is to qualify to the African Cup but we will not surrender. We want to come up with a positive result in Algeria. I think victory is the only way for us to be in a good situation for competition to the African Cup.
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