Despite scoring a brace and her compatriot Barbra Banda netting a record-breaking hat-trick, Racheal Kundananji and the Copper Queens suffered yet another defeat at the Olympics, tainting their chances of advancing to the quarterfinals.
After taking a 5-2 lead, the Copper Queens blundered as the Matildas mounted an amazing comeback led by goals from Alanna Kennedy (7′), Hayley Raso (35′), Lushomo Mweeba (own goal 58′), Stephanie Catley (brace 65’, 78’, including from the penalty spot), and Michelle Heyman (90th minute winner).
Kundananji, who now has 29 goals in 43 international appearances, was gutted following the defeat and described it as painful.
“I would say this is more than a heart break,” she bemoaned . “ Because you know, we saw three points coming to Zambia and then it just went like that. Even not getting one [point], we just got zero from it. Like, it’s so painful.”
“I feel like we went well in the game, starting from the first half, what we were told to do when pressing, and you know, when we have a chance on attack, which we did. And I feel like we just lost concentration. That’s why we conceded a lot of goals whereby the game we were winning, we just gave it away.”
The Bay FC striker who is the world’s most expensive female footballer believes the coaches did their part but the team failed to defend as a unity.
“We need now to bring ourselves together and work on defense as a team so that we win a lot of matches. Because we can’t, how can we explain from [leading] 5-2 to losing, like conceding four good goals in the second half, which is not making sense. So we need as a team to work on those mistakes because the coaches have already done their job. They, they did their part, they told us everything, which we are supposed to do. And we just needed to do that.”
Kundananji appeals for support ahead of Germany clash
There is little possibility that the Copper Queens will make it to the quarterfinals. Bruce Mwape’s lasses will advance by finishing second in Group B if they defeat Germany, who are now in second place, by a minimum of 2-0 and hope Australia falls to the USA, who are leading the group and have already qualified.
They can also qualify as one of the best third-place finishers if they beat Germany by a 1-0 margin and hope that Australia loses to the USA by more than a goal. This will also be dependent on the results in the other groups on Wednesday.
Kundananji has since has called on Zambians not to give up on the team.
“They shouldn’t just give up on us so easily, you know,” she said. “ This is the time we need that support they give us when we win because we need support also.”
Kundananji added: “We never wanted to lose. We wanted to win. They saw how we’ve been fighting in these two games because we also want to win. That’s why they should support us because if we lose and then they give up on us, they start like, you know, making us feel bad, it will be very difficult for us to calm down.”
READ MORE: Grace Chanda to leave Copper Queens camp for medical treatment in the US
