Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) President Andrew Kamanga believes Zambia will recover from their humiliating defeat against Japan and win their remaining two matches at the ongoing 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.

The Copper Queens kicked off their Group C campaign with a 5-0 thrashing of Japan and as they prepare to face Spain on Wednesday, Kamanga is confident they will earn a rebound and stay on course to qualify from the group stage.

“Things did not exactly kick-off as we envisaged as we suffered a 5-0 loss to the 2011 champions Japan at Waikato Stadium on Saturday in our opening Group C match,” said Kamanga, adding: “However, we consider the first game result as water under the bridge.

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“We are happy with the efforts the technical bench and staff have made to ensure that the next match on Wednesday against Spain yields better results. We have had the opportunity to see how hard the team has been training in Hamilton and know that having tested some world cup level football they will be better psyched for the match on Wednesday.

“Having been in Hamilton for a while before the kick-off of the tournament there is no question about the team adapting to the conditions both on and off the pitch. We should not be oblivious to the fact that sometimes in football your opponents may play better than you as did the Japanese. Our focus now should be on stepping up as we face the Spanish at Eden Park Stadium.”

He concluded: “With two games remaining in our group campaign, we still have an opportunity to rebound and reach the second round.”

The Copper Queens will head to Auckland on Tuesday for Wednesday’s penultimate Group C encounter against Spain set for Eden Park at 09h30.