By FAZ Media
Zambia Under – 17 women head coach Carol Kanyemba says the early goal conceded against Rwanda was anticipated and did not dampen her team’s morale, as the Copper Princesses had been mentally prepared for such a situation.
Kanyemba admitted her side looked disjointed in the opening half but praised their character and response, which ultimately saw Zambia emerge 2-1 winners on the day and 4-1 aggregate victors.
“Football is like that, conceding first does not mean the end of the game. At the break, we told them that what matters is how you respond after conceding,” explained the two-time World Cup qualifying coach.
Speaking at the post match press conference at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Kanyemba credited her players’ mental strength as the driving force behind the comeback but was quick to highlight areas needing improvement.
“The fact that we struggled in the first half and when we created many chances we could not score shows we still have a lot of work to do.”
Meanwhile, Rwanda coach Oscarie Iragena attributed her side’s defeat largely to inexperience but remained optimistic about the future.
“Apart from inexperience, my girls lost because they could not match the speed of the Zambian players. But this is our first time competing at this level. We will go back and highlight the lessons learnt from these two games,” she said.
The Copper Princesses staged a spirited second-half comeback to beat Rwanda 2-1 and book their place in the next round, where they will face DR Congo. The Copper Princesses were stunned early when Sylvie Umwanankundi gave Rwanda the lead with a superb curling effort that sailed over goalkeeper Bukata Kakumbi and into the top corner.
Zambia found the breakthrough in the 74th minute when Faith Kajiya Kapilingo struck brilliantly from outside the box to level the score. The hosts kept up the pressure and were rewarded when Grace Phiri won a penalty after being brought down in the area. Natasha Kasema stepped up in the 82nd minute and calmly converted the spot-kick to complete the turnaround and send Zambia through to the next round.
