Lutanda Soccer Academy’s midfielder and an offensive all rounder, Shadreck Mayembe Peter has been called up by coach Herve Renard to the Chipolopolo camp in South Africa for the African Cup of Nations qualifier, after the inspirational play maker Rainford Kalaba was ruled out of Saturday’s encounter with the Mighty Cranes in Namboole.
Born and brought up in Zambia but been playing in Sweden for the past eight months, Shadreck Mayembe Peter has only played for Zambia under 20 three times and has yet to play for the senior side.
He is a mul¬ti¬func¬tional foot¬baller who often prefers the striking role but as there is a fissure left by Kalaba he may be used in the wing midfield for Zambia.
The 22 year old Lutanda Soccer Academy favourite has managed to rack up an impressive total of 7 full appearances for both the under 17 and 20 side for Zambia, and he is highly rated to be very fast with the ball, good in the air and creates things on his own.
The addition of Mayembe in to the squad takes the tally of Under 20 players to two with Mukuka Mulenga already in camp training. And Kalaba himself is already frustrated with his injury and he knows his impact on the Cranes match would matter a lot to uplift the hopes of the Zambians.
Kalaba told BBC that he was disappointed to miss the crucial match and hoped his teammates would get a positive result from Uganda.
“I am very disappointed because it’s a crucial game for us. If we don’t qualify, people back home will not understand. I just pray that the guys get a positive result in Uganda. I believe in them and I know they will do wonders when they go there,” he said.
The Chipolopolo are expected in Uganda on Thursday, some 48 hours before clashing with the Cranes in the crunch tie.