Having succeeded Albert Kachinga in 2018 to take up the mentorship of Zambia Women’s National Team coach, Bruce Mwape has undoubtedly transformed the team into one of the best on the continent. 

Under Mwape’s reign, the Copper Queens have competed in the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and won a bronze medal at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

However, Mwape has had headaches selecting players because the country now has a plethora of talented young girls who have taken up football as a full-time career in the hopes of representing the country.

Mwape says the door is open for every young player but they should exercise patience.

“They should just continue working hard,” he said. “All I can say is that they will also have the chance to play on the team.

“Most of the experienced players we have are also young so it’s difficult but their time will come.”

Mwape further says that since he was appointed head coach in 2018, his technical team has not stopped building the team with new talents but for now they don’t need to make many changes. 

“When I took over the team five to six years ago, the assignment was to build a team and, if possible, qualify for the first Africa in 2018.

“It’s been five years since 2018 and I don’t think we need too many changes for the purposes of building the team,” he said.

The Copper Queens will today face Angola at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium with a commanding lead of 6-0, heading into the second leg of the final round of the WAFCON Qualifiers.