Zambia Women’s Under-17 has inflicted pain and avenged the 3-2 aggregate loss they suffered at the hands of South Africa in March this year in the 2021 India FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup Qualifier Match.
Copper Princesses and Bantwana came head-to-head for the third time this year with a single win apiece and as expected it was always going to be a tight affair between two teams that always give each other a good run for the money, Simphiwe Dhlulu’s lasses were a better side especially in the first half and they managed to find the back of the net after the half-hour mark through substitute Nabeelah Galant after she benefited from poor ball keeping and also goalkeeping in the box from Chitete Munsaka whose mind went off a bit to gift the home side with a 1-nil lead on a silver platter.
However, Taonga Chulu restored parity for the Princesses with a great close-range finish after the ball came off the crossbar before the mesmerizing Midfielder Cindy Banda scored the winner in the 88th minute to make sure the coach Kaluba Kangwa tutored lasses secure maximum results with a hard-fought 2-1 victory.
This result has sent Zambia on second position in the pool on 3 points at par with Tanzania who earlier on at the same venue silenced Comoros 5-1 to lead the table with a superior goal difference.
Copper Princesses’ next match will be on Friday 6th November 2020 against log leaders Tanzania who are the guest nation at this year’s championship.
This match will be played at the same venue and will Kick-off at 12h30.
Elsewhere, The Copper Queens outclassed Lesotho 8-nil in their Group B opener to sound warning shots to Malawi who are their next opponents on Monday to wrap up the group stage.
The Coach Bruce Mwape led side had started the game on a low note and struggled in the first half missing several chances, however, Captain of the side Barbara Banda scored the first goal at the half-hour mark and it was the difference separating the two sides going into the break.
The Copper Queens came back more rejuvenated and wounded in the second half and managed to score 7 times.
Banda extended the lead in the 52nd minute and less than 5 minutes later Red Arrows speedy winger Prisca Chilufya added a third goal in the 56th minutes before 2019 COSAFA Under-20 golden boot winner Maylan Mulenga scored the fourth goal in the 65th minute to put the tie to bed.
Just when others thought that was over, two minutes later after Mulenga’s goal, prolific striker Grace Chanda scored in the 67th before Banda complete her hattrick in the 70th minutes while 6 minutes later Chanda completed her brace, thereafter Ireen Lungu added the cherry and icing sugar on the cake with the eighth goal of the game with 6 minutes to play to bury the tie beyond recognition.
The Shanghai Shengli striker Barbara Banda was voted player of the match, and coincidentally she came out the best player when these two sides met 2 Years ago at the same venue and tournament, in which Zambia won 2-0 with Banda and Misozi Zulu finding the back of the net for Barbara
In the other group B match, Malawi will lock horns with Lesotho on Saturday at 15h30 to determine who remains in the race for the next stage.
Only log leaders from the three groups will qualify to the semi-finals and will be completed by a second-best placed team.
