Having come out third in last year’s women’s under 17 COSAFA championship at St Francois Xavier Stadium in Port Luis town, Mauritius after defeating Botswana three-nil in a third and fourth place play-off, the Copper princesses are back again at this year’s championships which will take place in Port Elizabeth, South Africa from 4-14 November.
At last year’s tournament, they were placed in group A alongside debutants and eventual winners Uganda with others being Mauritius and Comoros where they came out second due to inferior goal difference to group leaders Uganda whom they drew with in the first match thereby securing a semi-final berth with a date against South Africa whom they lost to one-nil before a third-place play-off.
Zambia will open its account on November 4, 2020, with a titanic clash against hosts South Africa before facing Tanzania 48 hours later. Kangwa’s lasses will then play Comoros on November 10 before concluding their outing with a game against Zimbabwe two days later. The tournament is slated for kick-off tomorrow.
Speaking ahead of the first game following a morning training session at calvindale stadium Assistant coach Carol Kanyemba Daka has expressed happiness with the response from the girls since arriving in South Africa
“Our trip was okay though it was long, it took almost eight to ten hours for us to arrive in South Africa so it was a bit hectic but we arrived safely and am happy with their response regardless of the jet lag and the fatigue they had,” Daka told the ZamFoot Crew.
“The response was very positive, they look so awake, so vibrant and they are so ready for tomorrow’s game and am grateful for their response. It was so positive,” she added.
Daka-Kanyemba has revealed that the team is injury-free and the girls are ready for the crunch clash against South Africa tomorrow.
“We don’t have any serious injuries that may affect our game tomorrow but we just have a few knocks that can be treated and looked upon, the girls are very excited. The fact that they are meeting South Africa gives them excitement and more morale and more zeal cause last year in Mauritius we lost to South Africa 1-0 so that’s really a driving force for them they say they don’t want to lose to South Africa again so they are really positive about the game and they are really looking forward to the game against south Africa,” Carol Kanyemba said.
The copper princesses have high hopes of being among the leading contenders at the 2020 COSAFA women’s under 17 championships as they are the only nation from the region after South Africa to appear at the FIFA women’s under 17 world cup since its inception
