FUTSAL National Team coach Andrea Cristoforetti has named a 15-member squad for a three days local camp slated for November 18 to November 20 in Lusaka.

The squad is without notable stars such as Michelo Kampwe, Captain Chota Chileshe and most of the players who represented Zambia at the 2024 Futsal Africa Cup of Nations played earlier this year in Morocco.

Cristoforetti has given debut call-ups to 15 players representing MUDI Stars, Lusaka Avengers, Kafue Saints, CSS Petauke Futsal Club and Green Buffaloes.

The Italian gaffer said the aim of the three days camp was to assess and identify players who could play under pressure and represent the country at international level.

He said he was looking forward to asses the young players who have the potential to play and contribute to the growth of futsal at national team level.

“The reason for this camp and why some of the players from Automotive are not there is that all of the players on the list, no one has ever played for the national team before so I have been scouting and looking at all the games so far and we are thinking of giving an opportunity and also testing players in training to see if they have the quality to play international,” Cristoforetti said.

“We will have two days of trainings where we will asses the players and give them the basic tactical knowledge needed to be put in place to play an international games then on Wednesday we will have a friendly game against the champions Automotive Futsal Academy. The truth is that futsal is changing a lot and so we are looking at players with the right attitude, players who are hungry and aggressive enough to handle the pressure of a physical game so this is the aim and hopefully we give an opportunity to the players to give it their all and try to come out and have the right attitude. The main aspects we are looking at at the moment is the attitude to handle an international game”.

Cristoforetti said he was excited at the prospect of discovering young players who would be able to handle the dynamics of modern futsal.

“Futsal is changing and it’s amazing and for me after watching all the games at the World Cup, I’m also looking at coming up with a specific profile of players, that’s the main objective. We have these 12 players and three goalkeepers and let’s see how it goes. We are very excited about it and it is also a big reward to the works the other teams are doing. The league is growing and that’s what is important for us to continue developing the game in Zambia,” said Cristoforetti.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Danny Singandu, Isaac Mwanza, Charles Banda.

Infield Players: John Chikonde, Andrew Kadasa, Samson Sakala, Fredrick Mwale, Chileshe Simbeye, Elijah Muenu, Erick Kaunda, Gift Mwandila, Emmanuel Mwiya, Patrick Mwila, Dewent Siyamkwilimba, Loyd Chisala.