The Zambia U-20 Women’s national team will this Saturday hope to progress to the next round of the 2022 Costa Rica FIFA U-20 Women’s World qualifiers.
The Young Copper Queens will lock horns with Ghana in the third round second leg to be played in Ghana.
The Young Queens are oozing with confidence and believe it’s possible to beat the Young Black Queens away in Ghana.
Skipper Evarine Susan Katongo expects a tough match and a hostile environment but believes the team is ready for anything that Ghana will throw at them.
“The preparations are going on well, everyone is working extra hard so that we go and win away. We created chances in the first leg we just need to improve on taking our chances,” Katongo said.
“We are very confident, we normally watch the game we played with them, It was our first time facing them but now we have experience and know how they play, so we know we able to beat them away in Ghana.”
“We know they will frustrate us but we just have to be strong and focus on our game. To the fans we just ask for their support, if they believe in us we will gain more confidence and bring good results,” she added.
Coach Charles Haalubono has also roped in U-17 Women’s national team duo of skipper Lubasi Pumulo and forward Jessy Zulu.
Pumulo believes her experience at the just ended COSAFA U-17 Women’s Championship which the team won has equipped her enough to help the team qualify to the next round.
“When we were in Lesotho I gained experience and going to Ghana will use that experience. The competition is just okay because most of the players are my friends we train together and play against each other in the league,” The 2021 COSAFA U-17 Women’s Championship best player said.
“We will work hard to win away. We need to work together and pull up our performance from where we left off in the first leg.”
Haalubono has declared his team ready to take on Ghana away in Kumasi.
“The morale and confidence is very high. The level is okay now, where we missed it was the final third but we have been working on that and the inclusion of Lubasi will assist with passes in the midfield,” he said.
“The Ghanaians are very big and most of our players are small hence we needed a player of Jessy Zulu’s stature who I think can manage to contain them.”
” We have one thing in common, to qualify. Ghana is an experienced team with good players but the girls managed to hold them. The only thing that was missing in that game is a goal so the morale is very high, we are ready,” he added.
The team is expected to depart for the West African Nation tomorrow in good time for acclimatization and familiarization ahead of Saturday’s clash.
The first leg ended in a draw and Zambia just needs a win by any margin to qualify. The overall aggregate winner will qualify to the fourth round to be played next year.
Only two teams from Africa will qualify for the World Cup next year.
