Tanzania U17 Women’s National Team assistant coach Bertha Kazobe believes development at U17 level is more important for the team than results.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Kazobe told the ZamFoot Crew that they will not focus on the goals despite being behind on aggregate but on development of the players.
The East African Nation suffered a 3-0 bashing at the hands of the Copper Princesses at home last weekend and they will need to score at least four goals to progress to the third and final round.
Kazobe says the team will look to fix the mistakes they made in the first leg and play their passing game in the second leg.
“We lost against Zambia 3-0 in the first leg. At this level we are looking at the development of the players so We are going to emphasize on players to play according to our philosophy as well as players to have confidence on the ball,” she said.
“Not really, 3-0, We are not putting too much pressure on the players to score more goals, players should be themselves and express themselves on the pitch. We should play according to the philosophy, that is the possession game, if the goals come then good for us. We should not just make the same mistakes we made in the first game.”
“Both Zambia and Tanzania are doing well in women’s football having played at recent World Cups. Qualifying to the World Cup is not an easy task but the two teams have done that, and we hope the development (of women’s football) will continue,” she added.
Tanzania was without Winfrida Gerald who was a shining star of the CAF U-17 Girls Integrated Football Tournament 2025 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Kazobe is hopeful that the JKT Queens Star will pass a late fitness test alongside Lydia Maximilian ahead of tomorrow’s game.
“For tomorrow’s game, we are still waiting on the clearance from the doctor to know if we can use the players or not but we are hopeful,” she said.
Mercy Chipasula scored a brace while Grace Phiri scored a goal as the Copper Princesses cruised to a comfortable win in the first leg.
The return leg is set for Saturday, 15 March 2025, at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola. Kickoff is set for 15h00.
The winner over two legs will advance to the final round of qualifiers, where they will face either Benin or DR Congo for a spot at the global tournament set for 17 October – 8 November in Morocco.
