Zambian U17 Women’s national team.head coach Carol Kanyemba is urging her side to draw inspiration from the previous U-17 generation that was led by the sensational Barbra Banda in qualifying the nation to its first ever FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.

The U17 coach was speaking to CAFOnline from the sidelines of her side’s preparations for the first leg encounter against Uganda in of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup 2024 third round qualifiers set to take place on Sunday, 05 May in Zambia.

The Copper Princesses cruised past Tanzania with a comfortable 5-1 aggregate scoreline to set up a meeting against Uganda who overcame Cameroon 4-2 on aggregate.

With two more rounds ahead of them, qualification for the global showpiece is in sight but will not come easy with Uganda and a meeting with either Morocco or Algeria in the fourth round.

“We are giving them the message of looking at the Barbra Banda crop. It was the first team that qualified for the World Cup. They made a name for themselves, and we have the same chance of repeating that history so we are motivating them to say that you can be part of the people that can be written in the history books, and you should therefore do your best,” said Kanyemba.

Kanyemba added: “I believe we have enough talent in Zambia that can take us to the World Cup to not only participate but compete. We might be small in stature, but we have got the confidence and talent that we need. If the girls come to the party, we will be able to surprise Uganda and potentially go all the way to the World Cup.”

The U17 FIFA Women’s World Cup will take place in the Dominican Republic between 16 October – 03 November 2024 and will see three representatives from Africa competing. This will be the last edition that features 16 teams before the increase to 24 in the next editions.

• CafOnline.