Chipolopolo Vice Captain Kampamba Chintu who was on Tuesday dropped [due to injury] from the final 23 man squad which will represent Zambia at the Orange/CAF African Cup of Nations will be part of the team at the tournament but in a different role, Zambianfootball.co.zm can exclusively reveal.

The injured veteran defender  hasn’t left the African Champions’ training base in South Africa as award winning coach Herve Renard considers him an invaluable member of the team and technical bench had no option but to rope him in as part of the technical team after he failed a fitness test owing to a pulled muscle

“As you might be aware Renard values the contribution elder statesmen like Chintu and Noah Chivuta. When he was struggling with the injury, everyone knew that he won’t make it but as expected the boss has roped him in,” a source said.

“Everyone in camp is happy that Modibo will be part of the team. He is the captain off field and a real team player. Whenever a young player is down, he is always there encouraging and making sure there’s that team spirit. He is a leader. Ask anyone in camp…he is the first when it comes to team meetings and prayers.

Though in the past Renard had called retired Chipolopolo Boys defence kingpin Elijah Tana as a ‘future Chipolopolo coach’, in Chintu, the Frenchman believes he has found the real down and took no time to rope the defender into his backroom staff.

-Thanks to zambianfootball.co.zm