The Federation of Zambia Association (FAZ) President Andrew Kamanga has maintained they will not drop the ball despite the team suffering an early exit from the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.
The Copper Queens are in the heat of a debut tournament that has seen them record 5-0 losses to Japan and Spain respectively with a final Group C match set for Monday against Costa Rica where they will be playing for pride.
According to Kamanga, Zambia will build on what they have gained in the biggest stage, he said as quoted by FAZ Media: “What is key is we will not drop the ball as it were. We obviously must build on the experiences we have learnt,” adding: “I think going forward, we are happy that part of our strategy has been to prepare the teams adequately, we have never shied, we have never failed, and we believe that continuing that path we should be able to get the desired results.”
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The FAZ chief who was in the company of FIFA boss Gianni Infantino for the opening Group C match against Japan in Hamilton says the world cup experience has been a learning curve.
“The outing for us has been a learning experience but also it is important to state that whatever has happened has not been an accident. It has come on the back of hard work from everybody, and I must at this point thank all the clubs in Zambia who have contributed to getting their players into the national team, everyone who has been involved in managing the various national teams at U17, U20, and the senior national team,” added Kamanga.
“Also, the administration where we have invested quite a lot in ensuring that football is played in all the provincial centres as well as introducing the national leagues for women which is part of the ZPL (Super League and National Division One).”
Under Kamanga’s watch, the Copper Queens qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where they were the only team from Africa and have qualified for two successive Women Africa Cup of Nations (2018 & 2022) with the bronze medal for last year’s continental championship a record achievement. Zambia are also the reigning Cosafa Cup Women’s champions after winning the crown for the first time last year.