On Sunday, Green Buffaloes Women’s Football Club will face Zesco Ndola Girls in the Samuel Zoom Ndhlovu Charity Shield at Lusaka’s Nkoloma stadium.
The Zambia Army-sponsored side will be aiming to make it three out of three Charity Shield Cup wins, having won the competition in the last two seasons.
Zesco Ndola Girls, the defending champions of the ZPL Women’s Super Division, are in search of their Charity Shield title.
In a pre-match conference, Buffaloes coach Charles Haluboono stated that the team has prepared very well despite their opponents having played some competitive football in the recently concluded CAF Women’s Champions League | COSAFA Qualifiers.
“It is an important match, and I expect a game of high intensity. It is not that you can expect to come out comfortably,” he said.
He is confident the team has prepared very well for the defending champions.
“We will try by all means to not get a bad score line or not to lose; if we lose, it will be a bad result on our side. We have prepared very well for the match,” he explained.
“Coach Florence is a good coach; we know Zesco inside and out in as much as they know us. So this will be the game of high intensity and excitement. We expect a very good game.”
“It can go either way” – Mwila.
With Green Buffaloes signing former Zesco Ndola Girls—Vast Phiri and Mary Mbewe—the gaffer did not outrightly state if he will start them.
“What is important is what the player puts in during training; we will judge them based on what they have done in training,” Haluboono said.
And Zesco Ndola Girls head coach Florence Mwila downplayed the Green Buffaloes’ historical dominance when they meet in Lusaka.
“So the match is a whole different ballgame. This is Charity Shield, not the league. It’s not about where they’re playing from. It’s more of the team that has prepared for it. It can go either way,” she said.
Zesco Ndola Girls and Green Buffaloes will lock horns at 13:00 on Sunday at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka.
