Zambian coach Roald Poulsen faces an agonizing wait for 20 of his players who are mainly unfit with the flu, while a few have malaria.
	Zambian coach Roald Poulsen faces an agonizing wait

"We have to build up better and we have to defend better. In all departments we have to improve," said Poulsen after the Zambians opening draw with Tunisia in Group D. Now he faces Senegal, the strongest Group D side, with a team decimated by illness.

It was a slightly philosophical Poulsen who faced the press on Friday
morning.

"Only two players haven't got anything. Everyday we wake up and it is a new incident. It means we can't train properly and we are just trying to recover as much as possible."

At the moment Poulsen can't make any guesses at a line-up because he says that it won't be the same the next day.

"It is difficult, but you can't fight it. We have to accept it. We aren't
looking for excuses. These are facts and this is the reality and we just
have to wait and see."

"The medical department are doing everything that they can do and we are seeking advice from the local professor and we are in touch with other local doctors every day."

"We are doing our best, but we are aware that when some players have the virus in their body they don't have the physical capacities that they should have."

Poulsen is sure the team didn't have either bug when the team left Zambia, but says they have traveled a bit since then. The Zambians went up to Kayes in Mali where he says there were a lot of mosquitoes, before going to Burkina Faso.

He is, however, more worried about the flu and does not know where they picked that up.

Looking ahead to the Senegalese clash, Poulsen says that he's told his Zambian team what will count against such opposition. "When you go and play a game like this it depends on how the team is functioning. You can have any tactic or strategy before the game, but it is absolutely on the pitch. I told the players there is only one thing that counts and that is their individual performance within the team strategy."

"If we don't all perform it is going to be very difficult because we are
going to play a very professional team so there are quite high demands in such a game."

"Senegal don't have any weak players and also have a strong bench."

Poulsen feels that although history is on the side of a Zambian team that has never lost to Senegal, in the finals of a championship these statistics count for nothing.

"If it was being played at Independence Stadium where I never lost a game or even conceded a goal in World or Nations Cup games, then that sort of statistic is useful if the game is home and away. In a tournament like this when you play on a neutral ground and you know it is like a cup game every time, then it is different."

At the moment Poulsen doesn't want to think about what will happen if he can't put a team out. "It's the first time I've ever experienced this and
perhaps the first time in a tournament like this. The organizers are under extreme time pressure. Maybe we'll be forced to concede. We can only field players if there is no health risk for them to play."

That's why Poulsen says he and all of Zambia are crossing everything.

Zambia's fans ever hopeful of a return to form