Bruce Mwape’s Copper Queens have once again stumbled on the big stage, making it the third time the team has faltered in the last four major tournaments.
In 2021, understandably debuting at the Olympic Games, the team was eliminated from the competition at the first hurdle after recording losses to the Netherlands (10-3), Brazil (1-0), and a stalemate against China (4-4).
The team hit a purple patch the following year, winning bronze at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAfCON) in Morocco before restoring to default mode at the 2023 FIFA World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand.
For some reason, many Zambians expected some fortune at the 2024 Olympic Games, even though the team was placed in a group that had heavyweights the USA, Euro finalists Germany, and World Cup hosts Australia.
It wasn’t meant to be; the team left the Olympic Games with no point.
Did the individual efforts of Barbra and Kundananji save Mwape?
Mwape’s ability to qualify the team for major tournaments is admirable, but one thing that continues to dent his qualifying exploits is the team’s poor performance on the big stage.
You get the feeling that the brilliance of individual players like Barbra Banda and Rachael Kundananji often mask Mwape’s deficiencies and it is now becoming increasingly clear that the team is being held back by its coach and technical bench.
The showing at the 2024 Olympic Games was yet another painful exhibition of Mwape’s limitations and those of his assistant coaches.
Let’s take the first game against the USA, Mwape and his technical bench stand accused of employing naive tactics by overloading the team with attack-minded players.
This punch-for-punch approach to the game against a superior opponent showed a mark of poor preparation and a lack of understanding of the assignment at hand.
It showed in the result.
The inability to hold onto a 5-2 lead against Australia was shocking. Anyway, this may not be so shocking in that this is a team that wants to attack for 90 minutes; what do you expect?
It was the same against Germany, where a glimmer of hope remained but there was no sign from Mwape and his team that they wanted to win the match.
Zambia boasts some good talent; maybe it is time for a coach that will maximize the potential of some players, but can FAZ afford such a coach? The answer to that will need a separate article altogether.
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