29/06/2025
THE WAFCON OPENER IS TOUGH: MOROCCO π²π¦ v πΏπ² ZAMBIA!
The hosts coach Jorge Vilda, Women FIFA World Cup winner with Spain πͺπΈ, has been tasked to win the WAFCON.
The Copper Queens, with Nora Hauptle, are WAFCON champions in the making.
The opener is a blockbuster 9 days away. Zambia πΏπ² has an indifferent start to life under Hauptle looking out of sorts in friendlies while Morocco π²π¦ thrashed Malawi π²πΌ 4-2 last week to send warning shots to defending champions South Africa πΏπ¦ and perennial favourites Nigeria π³π¬.
In Zambia, expectations are cautious. Ideally, it would have been better had the Copper Queens had one more preparatory match say in Morocco to banish the demons of defeat to Banyana Banyana.
But it should be recalled that en route to finishing third last time out in 2022 the Zambians suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of minnows Uganda just days before the WAFCON.
The defeat sounded panic alarm bells but Bruce Mwapeβs side rallied and qualified to the World Cup for the first time and a maiden bronze too.
So, depending on how Hauptle shuffles her Copper Queens cards-chiefly in terms of variations of tactics and personnel, Zambia could yet go far as the squad is brimming with quality.
I shall do an analysis of the squad and where the winners and losers can be in due course as we count down to the mouth watering opener of the WAFCON.
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