Napsa Stars FC made history yesterday by qualifying for Continental football for the first time.
The Mohamed Fathi coached side, despite losing their last game of the season to Forest Rangers yesterday, still managed to finish fourth on the log with 48 points after winning 14games this season.
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) decided to bring the 2019/2020 season to an early closure owing to the rising cases of the Coronavirus which have affected most club and NAPSA lost 1-0 to Forest in their last game.
Although a positive result could have seen NAPSA Stars win the league title with 51 points, the team still managed to reach its target of qualifying for both ABSA Cup and Continental Football.
A Lameck Silwaba goal in the 70th minute was enough to see NAPSA end its hopes of getting the league title this season.
And after the match, Napsa Stars FC Club President Dr. Greg Nsofu hosted the players for a dinner event where he congratulated the team for a job well done this season.
”We are happy and proud of you. The target was to finish in top four and you managed that. It would be selfish of us to complain that we did not win the league because we got carried away when we saw that we were so close to winning it. But overall, we are proud, let us pick up from here and contest for the title next season, ”Dr. Nsofu said.
And NAPSA DG Mr. Yollad Kachinda also called in to comfort the team for the loss yesterday and advised everyone to keep their heads high.
”We have continental football now let us work hard and shine. Let us forget about the result and I’m very sure we will do even better next season.” Mr. Kachinda said.
Meanwhile Assistant Coach Donwell Yobe said the final result was not what the team planned for, but finishing in top four was the target.
Coach Yobe added that the result meant that the team would come back even stronger in the next season.
Tram Captain Dickson Chapa said losing an important game like this one was a bitter pill to swallow, but added that the team learnt its lessons from the season and will come back stronger in the next one.
Napsa finished fourth with 48 points from 27games played.
