The Zambia Women’s National Team have been in Germany for a week now as they have intensified preparations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The will tomorrow have their first International friendly match in Europe when they take on the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
Midfielder Evarine Susan Katongo is expecting a tough challenge from the experienced Irish players who they will face for the first time.
Katongo says the level of training is a bit higher because the team is working on having a perfecting their system ahead of the global showpiece.
“Training is going on well, everyone is working hard. There is a lot competition, we are fine here in Germany and we working well together,” Katongo said.
“The level of training here is a bit higher because this time around we working towards perfection because the days are gone and all we want is to prepare very well before we go to the World Cup. We working hard and training well as a team and as individuals.”
“It won’t be easy because we going to play against experienced players. We have to take it seriously playing Ireland for the first time, it will give us a picture of what you expect at the World Cup,” She added.
Striker Grace Chanda says the team is enjoying their training in Germany thanks to the beautiful facilities available to them in Fürth.
Chanda is confident the time the team has spent together has helped them work on their coordination especially upfront and are now in sync.
“We are enjoying the training because of the pitches. The sessions are going well, we have been here for a week, we are happy with the weather so we are enjoying it,” she said.
“We play Ireland on 22nd, It’s very important it’s part of our World Cup preparations. We have to take it seriously, it will show us how far we are, we have to put in 100 percent to show people that we ready for the World Cup.”
“We have been working on our coordination as strikers, we have started knowing how to play together. To our fans, they know that we work hard, we have been together for sometime and we are no in synch as strikers,” Chanda added.
Meanwhile defender Margaret Belemu has revealed that the team are working on their defensive capabilities with a lot of sessions aimed at improving their lining and communication.
“We are having been some sessions as defenders on to make defensive lines, communicate and the balance, it is going quite well. We spotted some mistakes when we played Tanzania, we working on that because it’s important to coordinate well as defenders,” Belemu said.
The Copper Queens have since shifted their camp to Dublin, Ireland ahead of tomorrows international friendly match.
The Copper Queens will face Ireland at Tallaght Stadium tomorrow in a 20h30 kick-off.
Six days later, Bruce Mwape’s side will play another 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup bound country Switzerland before a crunch fixture against DFB-Frauen of Germany on 7 July.
Wishing you all the best shepolopolo we are behind you zambia 2 ireland 0