Against all odds, Green Buffaloes Women’s FC exited the CAF Champions League |COSAFA qualifiers at the group stage after falling 2-1 to Namibian side FC Ongos at Mpira Stadium on Monday.
Vanessa Chikupila’s second-half lifeline wasn’t enough as the Zambian champions trailed by two goals early on thanks to strikes from Beverly Uueziua and Twelikondjele Amukoto. With two defeats from three matches, the 2022 winners finished bottom of their group in the Southern African CAF Champions League preliminaries hosted in Malawi.
No Zambian club will participate in the CAF Champions Women’s League finals tournament for the second consecutive year.
However, Zambia is not entirely without representation at the continental showpiece, as TP Mazembe goalkeeper Agness Fabiola Banda is still in the race for qualification.
TP Mazembe Feminin kicked off their CAF Champions League UNIFFAC qualification campaign with an emphatic 7-0 win against the Republic of Congo’s Diables Noirs FC. Following their victory in the Congolese derby, the Lubambashi-based side tops the group ahead of Cameroon’s Lekie FF on superior goal difference.
TP Mazembe looking to bounce back
They are looking to bounce back after failing to qualify for the finals last year, where they finished behind Huracanes FC of Equatorial Guinea. Agness Banda kept a clean sheet in her CAF Champions League debut match against AS Epah-Ngama in 2023, helping TP Mazembe secure a 2-0 win.
However, it wasn’t enough for the Lubumbashi side to qualify, as they had already lost 3-2 to Huracanes in the first match.
The Zambian goalkeeper did not take to the field in TP Mazembe’s 7-0 decimation of Diables Noirs on Monday at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa. However, she will be in contention to start for the Congolese champions against Club Atletico de Malabo in their second group match on Wednesday.
The tournament is set to run from August 16 to 24 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the group winner will qualify for the 2024 CAF Champions League. As hosts, TP Mazembe are favourites to progress ahead of Diables Noirs, Club Atletico de Malabo, and Lekie FF of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon, respectively.
