Former Chipolopolo midfielder Noah Chivuta has shared his thoughts on the Copper Queens’ opening game against the United States of America (USA) at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
On Thursday night, Zambia suffered a 3-0 defeat at the Nice Stadium. Trinity Rodman opened the score in the 17th minute, while Mallory Swanson scored goals in the 24th and 25th.
Bruce Mwape’s side are bottom of the table ahead of their next match against Australia on Sunday. The Matildas also suffered a 3-0 defeat to Germany.
In an interview with Bola News, Chivuta attributed the defeat to individual play, among other factors.
Chivuta also notes that the USA knew the strength of the Copper Queens and managed to cut supply to Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji.
“The team didn’t look organized from the start. The defensive organization was not okay. And after the first goal went in, we didn’t regroup quickly, and that led to the other 2 goals,” Chivuta said. “The team looked disjointed, and there was more individual play than team play.”
He notes that the score line could even have been worse as the USA wasted a number of scoring chances.
Chivuta tips Bruce Mwape ahead of Australia tie.
“Our strength is in the speed that we have, and they knew that for our plan not to work, they needed to cut supply from the back and couldn’t allow us to play. It’s like we didn’t have plan ‘B’. We were so open and could have been worse; the USA were too wasteful,” he noted.
Chivuta has urged Mwape to rely on the team’s strength—speed—in Sunday’s match against Australia.
“We should work on our strength, which is speed upfront. It showed at the last Olympics, though that was a learning curve. For the upcoming games, let us first defend well, with a low block from midfield to defense, and invite the other team (Australia) to keep the ball, but once we get the ball, we have those three strikers with speed, and we can catch them on counters,” he said.
READ ALSO: Australia coach plots win against Zambia after poor start at the Olympics.
Australia and Zambia will play their next group matches on Sunday at 19:00 GMT, followed by the USA versus Germany.
