Zambia U17 Women’s National Team coach Carol Kanyemba says the Copper Princesses have made good progress in their local camp but their true level of readiness can only be assessed after playing high-profile international friendly matches.
Kanyemba told FAZ Media shortly after the team’s training session Thursday morning that the team is currently 60 percent ready, with the remaining assessment dependent on the quality of opposition they will face in the international friendlies.
“I can say we are 60 percent (ready) because most of it has to come from the high -profile friendlies that we will play; that’s when we will able to know how ready we are. We’ve just trained locally alone.” Said Kanyemba.
The Copper Princesses are scheduled to face China on October 9, with FAZ also working on securing more international friendly matches ahead of the tournament. Kanyemba who thanked FAZ for arranging the China friendly, expressed hope that the other planned matches will materialise, as the games will give the players an opportunity to test themselves against stronger opposition.
“We can only know how much the girls are able to deliver if we have competition that is high level compared to what we have been subjected to. We will be able to know once we play the friendly games; otherwise, we have come up with the final list.” She said.
Kanyemba explained that most of the players from last year’s team have graduated, leaving the current squad with limited experience at this level. She noted that playing high-profile international matches will therefore be important in giving the players a feel of the World Cup before they travel to Morocco.
“So if we prepare better than we did last year; last year we played one friendly game; the Association can organize more than one friendly game; for us to be able to give a number of players a feel of the world cup before we go to the tournament itself.”
The Copper Princesses will face Japan, France and Venezuela in Group D at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which runs from October 17 to November 7 in Morocco. FAZ General Secretary Charles Chakatazya has confirmed that, the Association is courting a South American team and another from Europe for pre -tournament friendly matches.
