Despite losing to Spain 5-0 on Wednesday in a Women’s World Cup Group C match that eliminated the Copper Queens from the competition, Zambia coach Bruce Mwape believes his team made progress on the day.

Despite playing Costa Rica on Monday, Zambia will not be able to advance to the round of 16 after losing both of their games 5-0 against Japan and now the Spanish.

Mwape believes his team showed signs of growth in the most recent defeat in Auckland, despite how comprehensive it was.

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“Our performance was not all that bad, despite losing by a big margin“, he said.

“Looking at the last game (against Japan) and today, there has been an improvement.

“We just made a few mistakes in the first half where we did not start well and allowed two goals.

“In the second half towards the end, that’s where we also made some mistakes, but the game overall was better than against Japan.”

Spain, in Mwape’s opinion, was able to profit by separating his defenders.

“In one v one situations they took advantage as they could eliminated our defenders. Playing the best teams in the world is not easy, but we have learned a lot.

“Especially when it comes to offensive play, we have seen how our opponents are holding onto possession of the ball and the tactics they are using.

“Going forward we will improve on those tactics we have,” the coach said.

Zambia has the opportunity to finish their first World Cup with a win against Costa Rica, who lost their first two games 3-0 to Spain and 2-0 to Japan.