Lesotho Women’s Under-20 national team coach Elizabeth Yelimala blamed her team’s 9-0 loss to Zambia in the first round of the 2024 COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship on a lack of experience.

The 2024 COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship kicked off today at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto Campus, with five teams competing for the trophy and valuable international exposure.

The round-robin tournament concludes on Sunday.

In the first game, the Junior Copper Queens began their campaign impressively.

In her post-match comments, Yelimala mentioned that her team felt overwhelmed by the experience of the Zambian team, which had players with previous FIFA Women’s World Cup participation.

“It was a bit tough for us. I would like to congratulate Zambia. They really had a good team. They had a very mobile team. Most of the players we have, this really is their first exposure,” she stated.

“And most of them have never even been to any of these big tournaments that we see. Our preparation was not really very good. But with this game, we see the intensity of the game.

“Our main problem is the names of the teams that we are playing because some of the teams have; they hear Zambia has gone to the World Cup with under 17. That panic started in the first 20 minutes.”

Meanwhile, Zambian coach Charles Haluboono said despite the big win, the team needs to improve on its coordination ahead of tomorrow’s match against South Africa.

“We need to coordinate more. The last time we had the under-20 COSAFA, we were second. So, this time, we are praying to God so that we can win it. The good aspect has been that we got goals, but we have to improve on our coordination. Most of the passes, we are not complete, so we have to improve on that,” Haluboono said.

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