Zambia Women’s National team midfielder Ireen Lungu has had a fantastic 2022 so far winning the domestic League with Green Buffaloes Women’s Football Club, clinching bronze in Morocco and winning the 2022 COSAFA Women’s Champions League Zonal Qualifiers in a space of four months.
Lungu is expected to be part of the Copper Queens squad that will be looking to clinch their first COSAFA Women’s Championship title next month in South Africa.
Lungu has revealed that she has been working hard to be able to have the good year she has had given that she is coming from a lengthy lay off due to an injury.
“I have been training so hard to have the good year that I have had, I have been pushing. I had a long term injury not so long ago, I had heart and have been treating myself so well. I have been pushing so hard for me to find myself playing like this,” she said.
Lungu nicknamed the female Computer was arguably the best player at the COSAFA Women’s Champions League Zonal Qualifiers and went on to win the golden boot award. In Morocco she played in an unfamiliar defensive midfield role and again put up an amazing performance.Â
The diminutive midfielder has now set her sights on winning the 2022 COSAFA Women’s Championship.
Lungu has called on the fans to keep supporting the team so that they can bring good results and the trophy back home.
“Winning the COSAFA Women’s Championship starts now during training, looking at my fellow teammates everyone is pushing and I think we are going to do well. We got the bronze medal at WAFCON and now we want to get our first COSAFA Women’s Championship,” she said.
“My message to the fans is to keep supporting us and we are going to deliver good results, the trophy is coming, keep supporting us.”
Meanwhile Nigeria-based midfielder Natasha Witika also reiterated Lungu’s sentiments on the team’s resolve to win the tournament.
“First and foremost I would like to thank the coaches, I would like to thank the coaches, It feels good to be back home and back in the national team,” she said.
“I will be bringing my level best, the competition in the team is very high. I believe that we will do our best to bring the cup to Zambia,” she added.
The Copper Queens have been placed in Group B and will begin their campaign against Namibia on 1 September at Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Gqeberha before the penultimate group match against Lesotho on 4 September before wrapping up their Group engagement against Eswatini two days later.
