NAPSA Stars Football Club face Super League side Nkana FC this afternoon in the ABSA Cup semi-final match set for Woodlands Stadium.
The two teams last met in the Super League, the same time Pensioners were demoted to the Eden National Division One League, and battled to a barren draw at the same venue they will use today.
And today’s match promises to be an exciting one after both teams sailed through to this round of the competition through post-match penalties in their respective Quarter final matches.
NAPSA Stars eliminated Super League side GBFC to reach the semi-final, while Nkana also eliminated Division One side Lumwana Radiants FC.
Despite Nkana enjoying more victories over NAPSA in their past meetings, NAPSA’s Coach Perry is hopeful that today’s match will be an exciting one.
The Coach has stressed that playing a big team like Nkana is a big motivation for his side especially going into his team’s five remaining matches of the league.
Coach Perry who has continued to stress that his main aim is going back to the Super League, has also added that reaching the final of Zambia’s only Cup competition will be a plus for his side.
And the Pensioners will be without the services of enterprising winger Austin Banda who sustained an injury in Thursday’s training session.
Defender David Odhiambo will also be rested in this match following an injury he picked up in Kalumbila during a rescheduled week-27 league match played against Quattro FC.
“I have two of my key players out but this is a great opportunity for other players to step up,” Coach Perry said during yesterday’s Pre-match Press briefing.
And NAPSA Stars right back Aaron Kabwe who was also present at the press briefing, said the team has worked hard to reach this stage of the competition.
“We only have one cup game, it’s exciting for us and we have worked hard to reach this far. Yes, our aim is to bounce back to the Super League but we want to fight for this Cup. It’s a chance for us to put our name on the board as Napsa Stars,” Kabwe adds.
This will be the fourth appearance for the Pensioners to what is currently Zambia’s only running Cup Competition.
The Pensioners took part in 2012 and went on to lift the trophy when the competition was called Barclays Cup. In 2014, the team came close but were eliminated by Zesco United in the Semi-final round.
Another impressive run came in the 2017 when the team reached the final round under Coach Linos Makwaza who had taken over Coach Tenant Chilumba. Napsa lost this match to Zanaco FC.
2020 should have been NAPSA’S fourth participation under Coach Mohamed Fathi but the competition could not take place owing to COvid-19 outbreak.
Form guide
NAPSA Stars are coming from recording a win and a loss in their last two league matches played in North Western Province.
The team which qualified for the ABSA Cup tournament after finishing second in their Eden National Division One League, is currently sitting third on the log with 50 points after 29 games played.
Nkana on the other hand are coming from recording a draw and a win in their last two league matches and qualified for this tournament after finishing in top six in their Super League competition.
The match is set for Woodlands Stadium today at 15h00.
Ends