Zambia Women’s National team midfielder Evarine Susan Katongo has set her sights on picking up where she left off at the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations when the COSAFA Women’s Championship kicks off later this month.
Katongo has had an amazing last 18 months, making her debut for the Copper Queens at the Olympics, playing in the AWCON qualifiers and playing all the six games Zambia played in Morocco.
The 19-year-old believes says she is very happy with her performance in the recent years especially that she is one of the young players in the team.
“It really makes me feel great, being one of the youngest players in the team, It is really a big achievement,” she said.
“As an individual looking at how I performed at the WAFCON I need to do more of the same and maybe put more effort and even play better.”
The Copper Queens were drawn in Group B alongside Namibia, Eswatini and Lesotho.
Katongo feels it is a tough group but says the team is working hard and won’t underrate any team. Katongo has revealed that the newcomers in the team have brought competition.
The Luyando Foundation product went on to attribute her easy settling at the senior team to the senior players who have helped her a great deal.
Katongo has also urged the fans to continue believing in the team as they are going to South Africa to compete and not just add numbers.
“The group we in is not an easy group but we as a team are working hard. We played Namibia and we again in the same group but we not going to underrate any team just beacuse we beat Namibia in the final qualification round to the AFCON we not going to underrate them but work hard, push and push more effort in everything we do as a team,” she said.
“The newcomers, the youngsters are putting a lot of effort and have brought a lot of competition in the team, the competition is very high.
“The senior players have been encouraging me, the coaches and the people out there it is what has given me the confidence to work hard.”
“To the fans what I can urge them is to believe in us, We not going to the tournament to just participate but to compete. They should continue believing in us and supporting us and we will work hard to win the tournament and put smiles of their faces,” she added.
Katongo was one of the revelations of the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and went on to score the winner as Zambia edged Nigeria to win bronze and finish third, the teams highest ever finish at a Women’s AFCON tournament.
The Copper Queens 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.
