Barbra Banda’s brace and goals from Natasha Nanyangwe and wonderkid Eneless Phiri inspired the Copper Queens to a 4-1 victory over Uganda’s Crested Cranes in Ndola on Tuesday, overturning a 2-1 first-leg deficit to secure a 5-3 aggregate win.

Charles Haalubono made bold changes to his starting eleven, benching Racheal Kundananji and handing Phiri a starting place. Margret Gondwe also started ahead of Pauline Zulu, while Evarine Katongo, Nanyangwe and Ireen Lungu formed the midfield.

The Copper Queens made their intentions clear from the onset when Phiri’s corner kick was expertly headed home by Nanyangwe in the eighth minute to give Zambia an early lead.

However, six minutes later, a miscommunication between Gondwe and Lushomo Mweemba allowed Sylvia Kabene to outrun both defenders and equalise for Uganda.

Phiri restored Zambia’s lead in the 20th minute, latching onto an inviting cross from Prisca Chilufya inside the box and firing home to make it 2-1.

Banda nets 69th international goal

The scoreline remained unchanged until the second half, when captain Banda capitalised on a mistake by a Ugandan defender and swept the ball past the goalkeeper in the 50th minute to extend Zambia’s lead to 3-1.

From that point, the match became one-way traffic, with the Copper Queens dominating proceedings as they pushed for more goals.

In the 68th minute, Haalubono made changes, bringing on Kundananji for Chilufya, while Martha Tembo made way for U-20 graduate Natasha Nkaka, who went on to impress on her debut.

Banda was not done yet, as she completed her brace in the 83rd minute after being set up by Kundananji, extending Zambia’s lead to 4-1 and sealing an emphatic 5-3 aggregate victory. She has now scored 69 goals in 75 appearances for Zambia.

The Copper Queens will now face Ghana in the third round of the qualifiers in February next year, with a place in the final round of the qualifying campaign at stake.