Bruce Mwape, the coach of Zambia, lamented a long list of errors after his team’s lopsided loss to Japan in their FIFA Women’s World Cup opener on Sunday.

Mwape attributed Zambia’s lopsided 5-0 loss against the former world champions in Hamilton, where they were making their tournament debut, on tactical indiscretion.

But he added that they would try to bounce back in their upcoming group C match against Spain in Auckland on Wednesday to maintain their chances of going further than the group stage.

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“We made a lot of mistakes but it is not the end of the world, we still have a chance,” Mwape made this statement during the post-game press conference following Saturday’s loss at the Waikato Stadium.

“We are sure we can come back and fight for a place and qualify for the next round,” he added.

Mwape claimed that Zambia’s complete outplaying by Japan had come as a surprise.

“You can say that inexperience cost us but we have played against teams of Japan’s quality before.

“We don’t make to make excuses but we just did not play well this evening. It was very disappointing.

“There was a lot of panic in possession, instead of keeping the ball some of the players just tried to kick it forward, giving possession back to the opponent.

“The tactical discipline wasn’t there, especially on the flanks. That’s where Japan got their goals from.”

Mwape stated that Zambia must focus on addressing their errors in order to defeat Spain in their next match.

“If we correct the negatives it will help us a going into the next game.

“Some say we might lose hope but we still want to fight and we want to leave a mark on the tournament,” he concluded.