Luanda - Despite Chipolopolo's successful performance at the African Cup of Nations where they were denied a place in the last four on penalties by Nigeria on Monday, there is anxiety and uncertainty in the Zambian Football Association (Faz) over the future of Coach Harve Renard.
The Frenchman who has successfully engineered the revival of Zambian football where the team reached the quarter finals, is being courted by Nigeria to lead them at the World Cup in South Africa this June.
"I have a number of people speaking to me, including one World Cup-bound team but I will not reveal any names as it might not be good for them," he said before Zambia outplayed the Super Eagles in the AFCON quarter-finals where Chipolopolo lost on penalties after a nil-all draw.
Eric Mwanza, the Faz spokesperson insists Renard is still contracted to Chipolopolo and maintains that the country has not expressed any wishes to offload him, but sources within the Faz corridors say the coach is longing for some more action at a bigger stage.
Nigerian coach Shaibu Amodu is underfire for a poor performance despite his team making it to the last four to remain in the competition, where the Super Eagles played a depleted Ghanaian side while Egypt met Algeria in the other semi-final on Thursday.
It is believed that even if Nigeria were to win the tournament, the football authorities in that country are not pleased with the coach's technical ability, having been exposed many times in the competition and also during the qualifiers.
Amodu's side is the only one which does not have local based players at the AFCON, with a vastly assembled European based side.
And now he is underfire for not turning that crème de la crème of African soccer talent into a formidable arsenal, while Renard with little financial and human resources made a piece of history by revitalizing Zambian football.
It is 14 years since Nigeria lifted the African title and already Amodu has met the target set for him by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) which was to reach the last four with Nigeria.
But he should be insecure despite his success because in 2002 he was in a similar position when he qualified Nigeria to the 2002 World Cup and was then asked to take Nigeria to a top four finish at the Nations Cup in Mali that same year.
The Super Eagles finished third at that Nations Cup, and Amodu was sacked all the same.
What makes Zambia apprehensive is the fact that Renard, also once a an assistant coach with the Ghanaian national team, is unpredictable.
At 41 the youngest coach at AFCON, he once threatened to resign over lack of support from clubs ahead of a friendly match where he wanted players in camp early, then refused to travel for a friendly match in South Africa because there were no adequate preparations for that tie, and also publicly confirmed that Senegal were after his signature.
