While his Zambian counterpart, Nora Hauptle, has issued a strong warning that her team is hungry for glory and has come to Morocco to hunt, Nigeria’s head coach, Justin Madugu, says he knows the Copper Queens’ strengths and weaknesses and is confident his team will come out victorious.
The two nations are set to meet tomorrow in the quarterfinal of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Casablanca, in what promises to be a high-stakes encounter.
When asked if he is worried about the threat posed by Zambia’s attack—led by reigning CAF African Footballer of the Year Barbra Banda and the continent’s most expensive female player, Racheal Kundananji, who have both scored three goals so far in the tournament—Madugu expressed confidence in his team’s ability to contain them.
“Zambia is a good team, but they are not unbeatable.
“Anything can happen in a game of football. Just to give a simple example, at the Club World Cup, nobody expected what happened in the final. For us, we are preparing to play against Zambia. We know the players; we know their strengths. We also have our plans of how to deal with them,” Madugu confidently said.
Banda, Kundanaji not threats – Madugu
He added that the hype surrounding Banda and Kundananji does not intimidate his squad, stating: “They are also very uncomfortable coming up against us because they know what we can also do.”
The coach also predicted a more open game compared to their previous matches, where he claimed Botswana and Algeria played defensively by “packing the bus” which made it difficult for his team score having netted just one goals in their last two games.
“It will be an open game; they will do their thing, we will also do our thing,” he told a press conference.
READ MORE: “We respect Nigeria but we’re here to hunt” – Nora ahead of WAFCON quarterfinal clash
