ZESCO Ndola Girls have opened their CAF Women’s Champions League | COSAFA Qualifier Botswana 2026 with a convincing 5-2 win over Zimbabwe’s Herentals Queens.
The Zambian champions, who are making their second appearance in the tournament, opened the scoring through Enelesi Phiri in the 4th minute.
Three minutes later they doubled their advantage as striker Charity Mubanga pounced on the defensive lapse from Herentals Queens. The striker completed her brace in the 22nd minute to give ZESCO Ndola Girls a comfortable 3-0 win.
Herentals got one back through Natasha Benza before the halftime break to end the first 45 minutes at 3-1.
After the break, ZESCO Ndola Girls quickly took control of the match, with Enelesi Phiri scoring her second of the day before Mila Mlambo also added a fifth goal for the Zambian champions who cruised to a 5-1 lead.
A defensive lapse between Hazel Nali and Pauline Zulu resulted in Herentals reducing the deficit through Bethel Kondo in the 81st minute.
In a post-match interview, ZESCO Ndola Girls head coach Florence Mwila observed that a few lapses in the tactical execution led to the team conceding some goals.
“We are happy with the results, and I think of a few positives that we’ve gotten. But I think there are a lot of areas that we really need to fix. We didn’t really play our game very well.”
“Going back into the next game, those are the areas that we need to work on. But the result is very good. That’s what we wanted.”
She also pointed out that Herentals’ tactical change in the second half denied her side the much-needed possession.
Mwila said the team will now prepare to close the gaps when they face the Lesotho Defence Force in their next Group A encounter.
“They really changed the game in the second half. They possessed more. In the first half, they played long balls, but in the second half, they possessed more,” she said.
“We’ve seen the areas that need to be worked on. We didn’t play our game according to our plan. And so those are the areas that we need to work on so that we do not allow goals and so that we also work according to our plan.”
