We will not fear our opponents at the Olympics says Zambia women’s football coach

Zambia women won’t back down at Olympics

JOHANNESBURG, April 23 (ANA) – Zambia women’s football coach Bruce Mwape on Thursday said his charges will not be intimidated by high profile opposition at the Tokyo Olympics.

The draw for the women’s football competition at the quadrennial showpiece was made at the Fifa headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

Zambia who will be making their women’s football debut at the tournament, were drawn in Group F against three previous Fifa Women’s World Cup runners-up at the competition scheduled in Japan from July 21 to August 6.

“We are happy with the draws because when we qualified for the Olympics, we already had a very good idea about the exact caliber of opposition we would be expecting in Japan,” Mwape said.

“So, there is nothing surprising and there is no way one can say these are tough or easy groups. We will respect all our opponents, but we will not fear them.”

Zambia will face the 2007 Fifa Women’s World Cup runners-up Brazil, who also won Olympic silver at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, The Netherlands who are the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup runners-up and defending European champions, and China, who won Olympic silver at Atlanta 1996 and finished second at the 2009 Fifa Women’s World Cup.

The Copper Queens – as the Zambia women’s football team are known – will be facing all three Group F opponents for the first time at senior level.

Zambia’s route to the Olympics saw them first beat Zimbabwe 5-0 at home in a single-legged tie, before beating Botswana 1-0 at home and 2-0 away.

In the penultimate stage, they were held by Kenya 1-1 in Nairobi before winning 1-0 in Lusaka.

Cameroon later handed Zambia their only defeat in the final round with a 3-2 win, but the Copper Queens won the second leg 2-1 at home to qualify on the away goals rule. They will be making their Olympic debut in Tokyo.

“People must remember that we qualified on merit, and I am sure that even our opponents have heard about us and have some level of respect for us qualifying to the Olympics,” Mwape said.

“Yes, we are going to a tournament to play big names like Brazil, but to say that Zambia is afraid of them is wrong because we will not be facing Lions but our fellow footballing sisters. We will prepare and face them on the pitch, and the 90 minutes will tell.”

Meanwhile, the Copper Queenss have started their preparations with a couple of high-profile friendlies over the last six months, starting in November 2020 when they beat fellow Olympic finalists Chile 2-1 away in Santiago.

Earlier this month, Mwape’s team later lost 3-1 to South Africa in Johannesburg during a month-long pre-Olympics training camp in Lusaka.

A third friendly scheduled for the weekend of April 24 in Lusaka against Kenya was cancelled due to operational reasons in the visitors’ camp.

“We have started our preparations, but the only drawback has been the Covid-19 pandemic. It has really been a challenge securing friendlies, but while we are trying to organise for them, we shall continue to prepare for the Olympics at home,” said Mwape. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman