Zambia Women’s National Team’s quest for her maiden COSAFA Championship trophy will be under scrutiny this afternoon when they face Malawi in a do-or-die encounter at the ongoing tournament in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The Copper Queens will clash against The Scorchers at 12h30 at the Wolfson Stadium in what is termed as a Battle of Supremacy because it’s a winner takes it all and qualify to the semi-finals but a draw could still send both sides through to the next round depending on results in other Groups.
Both sides are going into this match with heads high and coming from screaming scorelines over Lesotho who have since been knocked out of the competition.
Coach Mwape is expected to field the same squad that played Lesotho and he will be banking on the services of Captain of the side Barbara Banda who scored a hattrick in the opening match against Lesotho as well as prolific goal poacher Grace Chanda, Misozi Zulu will bring experience to the party has been part of the team for quite some time now and he featured against Malawi 3 years ago in Zimbabwe.
Hazel Nali is expected to seal her position in goal and she will be well covered by the likes of Lushoomo Mweemba, Anita Mulenga, Margaret Belemu, and Martha Tembo.
Mary Wilombe will be the center woman in the middle of the park and will be assisted by Ireen Lungu and the speedy winger Prisca Chilufya.
On the opposite side, Coach Mcnelbert Kazuwa has assembled a strong line-up and will be led by team captain the experience of Chinese based Tabitha Chawinga and her sister Temwa to inspire the Scorchers to victory in this afternoon’s match with a vengeance on their mind after Zambia contributed to Malawi’s elimination last year when they drew against Botswana.
The last meeting between these two sides was 3 years ago in Zimbabwe at another edition of the tournament in which Zambia edged Malawi 6-3, and coincidentally Barbara Banda and Misozi Zulu who scored braces in that match are part of today’s team and the same could be said about Tabitha Chawinga who netted a hattrick in the same match will also be available so this makes the tie even more mouthwatering.
Both gaffers have declared their lasses ready to fight each other in an explosive match that has a lot of expectations from both technical benches and the funs at large.
The match will Kick-off at 12h30 and will be broadcasted live on Supersport Channel 209 Gotv Select 2 as well as on the official COSAFA TV.
The winner between these two sides will proceed to the semi-finals where they will play against the 2nd best-placed team, and there’s actually a possibility of these two teams meeting again in the semi-finals.
The semi-finals will be played on Thursday 12th November while the final will be on 14th November 2020 at the Wolfson Stadium.
