Zesco Ndola Girls Football Club on Saturday announced the signing of Copper Queens goalkeeper Hazel Natasha Nali from Green Buffaloes on a two-year loan deal.
This comes after her move to Greek A Division side OFI Crete Women FC fell through for unknown reasons in July last year, despite having already been unveiled.
Nali has not played competitive football since 2023. Just days before the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, it was announced that she had suffered laxity in the medial collateral ligament and a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Since then, it has been a long road to recovery for the 27-year-old shot-stopper, a journey that also saw her run out of contract with Turkish side Fatih Vatan Spor Kulübü.
Following her move to Zesco—who will represent Zambia in the COSAFA Club Champions League, which also serves as a qualifier for the 2025/26 CAF Women’s Champions League—Nali expressed excitement about the new chapter.
“I’m over the moon to announce that I’ve joined Zesco Ndola Girls Football Club,” she wrote across her social media platforms. “After years away from the pitch due to injury – years that were devastating, breaking, and emotional – I’m finally back. Thanks to Zesco Ndola Girls Football Club for this opportunity.”
Nali and national team return
There have been growing calls for Nali’s return to the national team following goalkeeping errors at the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco. However, Copper Queens head coach Nora Hauptle insisted the player was not fit for selection.
“Hazel is a fantastic goalkeeper. She was at this tournament for Zambia. She’s already over a year out of play. So she did not train in any club,” Hauptle told reporters in Morocco. “She did not play any games. So for me, of course, when she’s back on the training pitch, which I hope is going to be soon, then she will be in focus for the national team.”
“But it’s never possible to call up a player who was more than a year out of the game and even in training practice.”
Nali is one of Zambia’s most experienced goalkeepers, having featured at the WAFCON in 2014, 2018, and 2022. Her crucial penalty saves and goal from the spot in 2022 helped secure Zambia’s maiden qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
With the 2026 WAFCON qualifiers set to kick off in October this year, Nali will be aiming to regain match fitness in Ndola and fight her way back into the Copper Queens squad, who are set to face Namibia in a home-and-away clash.
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