Copper Queens Assistant coach Florence Mwila believes the display of most players at the 2023 Cosafa Women’s Championship will earn them a place in the senior team.
This follows an impressive second-place finish in the regional championship that saw Zambia fall short to eventual winners Malawi.
Among the outstanding performers at the tournament are the team’s top goal scorer, Sarah Jere, who scored four goals, hat-trick heroine Fridah Kabwe and Elite Ladies Football Club defender Pauline Zulu.
“We are proud of the new girls who are playing international football for the first time. They really pushed and their confidence levels have grown,” said coach Mwila.
“Now, as Zambia, we know where to look if the main team is not there. There is another that is able to stand and fight,” she charged.
Mwila, who was aiming to become the first female Zambian coach to win the regional title, said it was always going to be difficult to do so with the majority of new players debuting at the international level.
“From the beginning of the tournament, we knew as defending champions it wasn’t going to be easy for us. We knew that every team was going to come with force,” she said.
The Copper Queens will now shift attention to the back-to-back Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Angola next month.
