By Angela Bambala Bwalya
Zambia U17 Women’s National Team coach Carol Kanyemba has blamed a lack of composure, timid performances and poor decision-making after the Copper Princesses suffered a 5-0 defeat to Japan in their FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup Group D opener in Morocco.
The heavy loss leaves Zambia needing a strong response in their remaining group matches, but Kanyemba remains confident that her young side has the quality to recover and challenge for a place in the knockout stage.
Japan took control early at the Mohammed VI Football Complex Pitch 2 in Rabat, with Nanami Kurita opening the scoring in the ninth minute before an own goal from Zambia’s Grace Phiri four minutes later doubled the Asian side’s advantage.
Japan continued to dominate after the break, with substitute Wara Shimizu scoring in the 72nd minute before Kurita completed her brace in the 88th minute. Asuka Tanaka added a fifth in stoppage time to seal a comprehensive victory.
Reflecting on the result, Kanyemba admitted that the margin of defeat was unexpected, attributing her side’s struggles to a lack of confidence and composure in key moments.
“Very bad results, unexpected. We lost with a lot of goals. That was due to the composure that we lacked as Zambia. Most of our girls were a bit timid and inferior in decision-making, in positioning, and that really affected us. So I think composure really played a very big role in getting these results,” Kanyemba said.
Despite the disappointing outcome, the coach maintained that the team had worked hard on its physical and tactical preparation, identifying mental strength and self-belief as key areas that must improve ahead of their remaining fixtures.
“Working on the girls physically on the field, tactically, we’ve worked on them. They just need to build their strength, the mental strength, which we have been working on. They need to believe in themselves. They are good players, very good players. In fact, if they can believe that they can do it, we can definitely get out of this group,” she added.
With two matches remaining, Kanyemba urged her players to put the defeat behind them and focus on collecting maximum points against Venezuela and France.
The coach stressed that Zambia’s campaign was far from over, insisting that the players must learn from the setback rather than allow it to undermine their confidence.
“Still winning is all part of the game, so we just have to make them understand that it’s part of the game and we can always come back from this. It’s not yet over until it’s over. We still have two games, three points, six points that we can get from them. Forget about this game and look forward to the next two games that are remaining,” she said.
Kanyemba also appealed to Zambian supporters to remain behind the team as the technical bench continues its work to develop the young players and help them respond positively to the disappointment.
“May they continue running behind us. We continue developing these girls. They are developing, and we’ll continue doing that as coaching staff,” she said.
The Copper Princesses face Venezuela on Wednesday before concluding their Group D campaign against France. Both matches will be crucial if Zambia are to revive their hopes of progressing to the knockout stage.
For Kanyemba, the immediate task is to restore confidence and composure within her squad after a difficult opening night, with the coach hoping her players can demonstrate the belief and resilience needed to keep their World Cup campaign alive.
