In their second game of the 2024 Dominican Republic U-17 World Cup, Zambia’s U-17 Women’s National team is aiming for victory. Kickoff is set for Monday at 19:00 Zambian time.

Despite the loss, Zambia performed well against Brazil, marking their return to the World Cup after a decade.

“We will try and take as many shots on target as possible as it will give us a chance of getting goals,” said head coach Carol Kanyemba in a pre-match interview.

She says her lasses have moved on from their narrow 1-0 loss to Brazil in the opening Group D fixture, describing the defeat as a “learning moment” for the young squad. 

“Our game against Brazil was a learning moment considering the preparations that we had,” Kanyemba said. “We were able to see the lapses in the team and where we missed it. In the training that we had, as we are preparing against Poland, was to try and rectify areas that we lacked in.”

“Joining the attacks and balancing defense,” she explained, “cause I think the goal that we conceded was as a result of lack of cover in defense. Had we covered, we could have avoided that.”

Kanyemba targets maximum points against Poland.

Poland, making their U-17 Women’s World Cup debut, earned their first point in a 0-0 draw against Japan. Kanyemba is confident her team can rise to the occasion, saying their morale is high after the Brazil performance.

“The fact that we managed to hold on to Brazil that long should be a motivation factor as we go face Poland,” she said.

Kanyemba added that the technical bench has been encouraging the players to focus on the upcoming match.

“As we face Poland, we are telling the girls that the game against Brazil is water under the bridge. We are meeting Poland; it’s a whole different team that we are meeting. For us to be able to stay in this tournament longer, we need maximum points in the next game.”

With Brazil topping the group with three points, and Japan and Poland holding one point each, Zambia must secure a win to improve their chances of progressing.

READ ALSO: Zambia U17 Women player ratings vs. Brazil.

“Maximum points from this game will give us a good standing in the league, looking at the table,” Kanyemba concluded. “Only Brazil has got three points, the two teams have got a point each, we don’t have any. For us to stand a better chance, we need to get maximum points against Poland.”