U-17 World Cup: Zambia vow to keep fighting despite Japan defeat – Kanyemba

Despite suffering back-to-back defeats in the on-going FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, Zambia national team coach Carol Kanyemba has vowed to keep fighting for a place in the knockout stages of the tournament.

In their latest fixture, the Copper Princesses suffered a 2-0 defeat against Japan. In a balanced opening half, both sides found the target but each effort was ruled out for offside.

In the swirling wind, Japan twice came close to scoring from high, looping corners early in the second period — first when Zambia defender Precious Mwape headed Noa Fukushima’s set-piece off the goalline, and then as goalkeeper Loveness Chingwele blocked a close-range header from Yunao Aoki.

However, Japan seized the initiative when Honoka Sunaga latched onto the ball just outside the area following a corner and the rising effort flew past Chingwele into the top of the net.

Chingwele was then shown a red card in the closing stages after she lost control of the ball in the area and bundled over substitute forward Nanami Taira, with Fukushima converting the resulting spot kick.

Kanyemba blames latest defeat on costly mistakes

Speaking after the game, Kanyemba said as quoted by Bola News: “It has results because we lost the game, but football being what it is, we’ve gained momentum from the first match. The girls put in excellent effort. We lost concentration at a crucial moment and got too comfortable, which cost us. But this is a developmental stage — we’re growing as a team.”

Kanyemba added: “The improvement from the first to the second game is very positive. The first goal was a team defensive lapse, while the second was a technical error from the goalkeeper. We’ll keep working on their focus and decision-making — they’re young and still developing.

“We’re going to give it our all. The girls are positive and want to push until the last game. If we get a good result, we’ll be grateful; if not, we’ll take lessons from it and keep improving.”

Zambia, who lost their opener 2-1 against Paraguay, will wind up their Group F matches against New Zealand on Saturday.