Zambia Women’s National Team assistant coach Charles Haalubono says he is expecting a tough match from Zimbabwe this after when the two neighbors meet in the final game of the ongoing Three Nations Tournament in Lilongwe.
Haalubono is cautious of the Mighty Warriors counter attacking prowess and wants the team to always be alert and avoid being caught on count attacks.
The Green Buffaloes Women’s Football Club coach says the technical bench has done their job and analyzed the opponents.
“Yeah the Zambezi derby, yeah okay we expect a very nice game, tough and nice game yeah i watched Zimbabwe when they beat Malawi i saw them they were organized and that game was highly tactical i saw how they were countering and how they were getting goals yeah we expect a tough match,” he said.
“Yes, you know, that is our job, you are supposed to analyze your opponents, we have done it, we are still doing it.”
“Yeah, we will try by all means to attack but as you saw in that game against Malawi, Zimbabwe is very good at counter-attack. Their counter-attack is so effective so we should be mindful as we are attacking. Also we should look at the numbers we will be leaving behind so that we are not caught on counter-attack,” he added.
Haalubono is happy with the surface at the venue, Bingu National Stadium which has been hosting all the games.
“Yeah, perfect surface and very beautiful stadium, yeah. It even gives morale to the players, you know, when you’re playing on a beautiful surface. Even your confidence goes up. You enjoy playing, you enjoy playing, yeah. It’s good,” he said.
Captain of the side Rachel Kundananji echoed the Coach’s sentiments saying they are not expecting an easy game as Zimbabwe also want to win the tournament.
The Mighty Warriors are currently top of the Three Nations Tournament log table after a shock 2-1 win over hosts Malawi.
“Yeah, we are not expecting an easy game but a very tough game because we know they also want to win, they also want to conclude with the win as much as we also want that win. Plus for them they have two options, it’s either draw or win to get everything but like for us it’s win or nothing and how we are preparing is just working on the mistakes we made yesterday’s game like the chances we missed in this coming game I’m sure we have to do our level best and make sure we score every chance that we get because the defenders they did their job and up to us now and strikers to score goals,” she said.
“There will be so many changes because we have training today, so during that training practice time we have to work on our mistakes and see how we should improve and everything, especially in finishing and also just have patience in front of the goal. I’m sure we’re going to score and win the game.”
Zambia and Zimbabwe meet this afternoon in the final match of the Three Nations Tournament at Bingu National Stadium. Kickoff is at 15:00 (CAT).
