FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya has said his association will do everything humanly possible to ensure Zambia retains the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title in South Africa next year.

Kalusha said during a luncheon hosted for the victorious squad by First Lady Christine Kaseba at State House in Lusaka yesterday that the Chipolopolo wanted to keep the trophy.

“Even coach Renard, we told him that he had to do better than in Angola which shows that we are always determined to beat our own records. We promise to defend the trophy in South Africa next year,” he said.

Kalusha said Zambia was given an extra incentive to win the title on Gabonese soil given that it was the same country where the gallant national team perished in 1993 and that the Chipolopolo made sure they pursued their dream.

The FAZ president thanked the Government for its continued support to the team and the cooperating partners who facilitated for soccer fans to travel to Gabon to cheer on the team in the final against Ivory Coast.

“It made the atmosphere level with our friends the Ivorians who were at home in Gabon. We too felt at home when the supporters came and the Gabonese were very supportive of us. Your Excellency, we are grateful for that,” he said.

Kalusha also paid tribute to sponsors Zambian Breweries, MTN, FQM, KCM and others who have been supportive of the national team and other programmes FAZ lines up for the beautiful game in Zambia.

Renard echoed Kalusha in thanking the Government for its support to the team and particularly the warm reception that was accorded to his team on arrival at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport and all the way to the Show grounds on Monday.

The Frenchman who danced with his players to the “Donchi Kubeba” song as well as to the gospel songs the team sang at matches during the AFCON tournament later presented the trophy to the FAZ patron, President Michael Sata in the company of Kalusha and Chris Katongo.

The luncheon was attended by the crème de la crème of sports administrators including Sports Council of Zambia (SCZ) board member Mwamba Kalenga who was donned in Zambia regalia and the FAZ top brass.

Also in attendance were business executives representing various companies who tried to out-do each other in pledging millions of Kwacha towards the national team.

The players were asked to introduce themselves and not surprisingly goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene and defender Stopila Sunzu- the heroes of the penalty shoot-out in the final- drew the loudest cheers, and so did skipper Katongo who introduced himself as Warrant Officer Class One.