Bwalya must revive Zambia's fortunes

The Football Association of Zambia (Faz) has named former captain Kalusha Bwalya as coach of the national team.

Faz spokesman Patrick Kangwa said on Saturday Bwalya had been picked to rebuild the team's fortunes after its failure to qualify for next year's Nations Cup finals in Tunisia.

"We had two options, either to recruit an expatriate coach or Kalusha and we opted for him," said Kangwa.

Bwalya, who has been given a five-year contract, will replace Patrick Phiri who was sacked after Zambia were eliminated from the Nations Cup by lowly Benin.

Kangwa said Faz had yet to agree all the terms of the contract with the former skipper who is expected back in Lusaka on Tuesday.

Since Faz is virtually broke, the Zambian government is widely expected to pay the national coach's salary, widely thought to be around US$10,000 per month.

Bwalya's playing career spanned 16 years and he featured for Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven in the 1990s after a long stint at Belgian side Bruges.

He played in the Zambian team which lost 2-1 to Nigeria in the 1994 Nations Cup final.

He retired two years ago after playing for Club America of Mexico and took a two-year coaching course in Europe.