Zambia women’s football team carry African hopes at Olympics
Zambia women ready for Tokyo Olympics
JOHANNESBURG, April 15 (ANA) – Zambia will be the lone African women’s football representative at the Tokyo Olympic Games later this year.
The Copper Queens – as Zambia women are known – will join Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and USA. The draw for the Olympics will be held on April 21.
With Cameroon crashing out after losing 2-1 on aggregate to Chile in the playoffs, the continent’s hopes will be pinned on the Copper Queens that are already in camp preparing for the world’s biggest sporting event.
It will be the first time since 1988 that a Zambian football team will be returning to the Olympics and the first time ever for the women’s national team. There is every reason to be proud of the Copper Queens’ feat of qualification but performance at the tournament will be more crucial.
The FAZ media team provides a recap of the team’s journey to Tokyo 2020.
Arising from the Olympic qualification journey Zambia has managed to export some players into foreign leagues.
So far six players are based in foreign leagues with skipper Barbara Banda (Shanghai Shengli-China), Hazel Nali, Mary Mwakapila (Hapoel Beer Sheva-Israel), Rachael Kundananji (BIIK Kazygurt-Kazakhstan), Hellen Mubanga, Rachael Nachula (CFF Zaragoza-Spain).
More players are expected to be taken up by foreign teams in the wake of good performances that has seen the team’s stock rise.
In preparation for the Tokyo Olympics the team has already played an international friendly with Chile that Zambia won 2-1 at the Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo in Santiago on 28 November 2020.
The team suffered a 3-1 loss to South Africa in an international friendly played on April 10 at the Bidvest stadium in Johannesburg and will host Kenya on April 24 at Nkoloma Stadium. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman