The Zambia Women’s national team will be hoping for a better result on Tuesday when they welcome the Scorchers of Malawi in the second leg of the Morocco 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) first round qualifier.
The Copper Queens were held to a 1-1 draw by the Scorchers away at Bingu National Stadium in the first leg.
Midfielder Evarine Susan Katongo is confident the Bruce Mwape tutored outfit will carry the day at home if they just utilize their chances.
“The game went quite okay, we played very well, though we did not utilize the chances that we had. We have an advantage at home, we will have the supporters, we need the fans, and We believe we will win this game,” Katongo told the ZamFoot Crew.
” I think we had a miscommunication but we will work on those mistakes we made and we just have to score as many goals as we can because we created a lot of chances.”
Katongo made her first against Malawi having com from the bench for her debut at the Olympics against Brazil in the Copper Queens final group game and she believes that will help her confidence going forward.
“Having my start game me more confidence. To the fans, We just want them to believe in us and their support for us to win this game,” she said.
Skipper Grace Chanda bemoaned missed chances in the first leg but she is optimistic the Queens will come good at home with the fans behind them.
“The game was not tough , we had chances but we failed to utilize them. We played well here and we will have home advantage on Tuesday so we will have the confidence to utilize our chances. Some of the players are new and maybe they were jittery,” she said.
“It’s football, we just have to work hard and finish off those chances we create. The game was not tough, we just have to finish off our chances.”
“Our chances of going into the second round are okay, we just have to utilize our chances and score a lot of goals. We need to work as a team, we need to work on our finishing as strikers so that we score a lot of goals at home.
“To the fans please keep supporting us, we work on our shortcomings so that we can go into the next round,” she added.
Meanwhile FAZ Women’s national representative Col Priscilla Katoba who was the delegation leader in Malawi believes the Copper Queens qualifying to the Olympics will help the Association to solicit for sponsorship for the Women’s game.
“I expected a win from the Girls looking at how they played at COSAFA but all hope is not lost as they head into the home game. A point away is not bad but we need to push the Girls to do their best at home,” she said.
“I think we missed a lot of chances and made mistakes in defense and in midfield. The Girls just need to work on the mistakes and we are good to go.”
“It will be a plus if they qualify to AWCON. We still looking for sponsors and that will make it easier for us to find someone to sponsor Women’s football.”
“I would like to employ all soccer loving Zambians that they should come on board and support the Girls. It will be important to push and motivate the Girls,” she added.
The Copper Queens and the Scorchers will square off on Tuesday at Lusaka’s Nkoloma Stadium to determine who qualifies to the next round where they will meet either Namibia or Tanzania who also played their first leg with the Brave Gladiators winning 2-1 at the expense of the Twiga Stars.
A scoreless draw or a victory of any margin will be enough for the Copper Queens to progress to the next round while The Scorchers will be hoping for a scoring draw of more than one goal or a victory too to advance to the second round.
