Copper Queens captain Barbra Banda has expressed her disappointment with the organization of the team ahead of the ongoing FIFA Series tournament.
The team arrived in batches, with Banda herself, Grace Chanda, Martha Tembo, and Lushomo Mweemba touching down in Cuiabá on matchday, while Maweta Chilenga, Natasha Nanyangwe, Agness Phiri, and Ngosa Chabwe joined the squad on Friday morning.
The team went on to lose their opening match 4-0 to Canada on Saturday, with assistant coach Charles Haalubono, who is currently in charge of the team, attributing the defeat to fatigue.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s second match of their FIFA Series campaign against hosts Brazil, Banda—who featured only in the second half against Canada—criticised the team’s poor preparations.
“We can be top players, but if we are not organized well, then I don’t think, [we are] going to do magic for us win,” the Orlando Pride striker said in an interview with FAZ media.
“We need proper organisation. So also it [goes] back to us also, starting from the management and everything. So we need to at least do better than this because, at the end of the day, these are FIFA series, and we keep on dropping our level and standards.”
Banda calls out govt & FAZ
Banda called on FAZ and the government to improve the preparations of the team going forward.
“Honestly, I would like to see change, more change. It’s not that we can compete with these European teams, but we know we can do better, starting from the association and the government. Maybe they can come in to help us because preparation is the most good thing for us. And we are representing Zambia. We are putting on this badge with pride, so we also need to be considered.”
Banda’s statement comes two days after head coach Nora Häuptle announced that she had stepped down from her duties ahead of the FIFA Series in Brazil, citing concerns over the direction of women’s football development in Zambia.
In a strongly worded statement on LinkedIn, Häuptle stressed the importance of long-term planning and structural improvements to sustain the success of the Copper Queens.
She revealed that she had shared a 10-point plan highlighting key issues, including the need for more high-level international matches, improved administrative processes for travel logistics, consistent leadership structures within FAZ, better use of technology, and enhanced financial planning, including player allowances.
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