Following their 4-0 defeat to Canada in their opening match of the 2026 FIFA Series on Saturday, the Copper Queens are set to face hosts Brazil in their second match of the friendly tournament tonight (tomorrow at 03:00 AM Zambian time).
Assistant coach Charles Haalubono, who is in charge of the team following head coach Nora Häuptle’s decision to step aside, citing concerns over the direction of women’s football development in Zambia, says he expects an improved performance from the team.
“We have psyched our players. We saw what contributed to our four-zero loss. We’ve worked on it. The biggest challenge in that game was mostly fatigue. This time, our players have recovered. I think they’ll respond to all the pressure, all the actions for 90 minutes,” Haalubono assured.
On facing Brazil, Haalubono said the players are eager for the challenge.
“You know, such games like we have now, we expect a good match and a good response from our players,” he said. “They’re eager for such a kind of competition. I believe in the girls to say they’re going to play good football.”
Haalubono also revealed that the team has worked on the mistakes made in the first match, particularly in defense.
“We have worked on a lot of things that continue correcting those mistakes, which we saw especially defensively, we couldn’t close the wings. So we are working on it, and we are showing (video clips) to our players so that they can easily see and make the corrections together.”
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