COSAFA U-20: Nthala reveals Zambia’s winning strategy over Botswana

Zambia under-20 girls’ national football team coach, Charity Nthala, has revealed the strategy behind her team’s 5-0 semifinal victory over Botswana on Friday.

The coach told a post-match press conference that the scoreline does not reflect the strength of the opponents.

“It wasn’t an easy game. Botswana was a little bit tougher than these other teams we have been playing with. We have been playing Botswana most of the time. We knew how they would play, so we used a good strategy to score more goals because we knew they had studied us and we know how they play,” Nthala said.

The coach has since called for more focus in the final against South Africa on Sunday.

“If feels so nice to qualify for the final. Now, we will stay focused so that we prepare well for the final. We now need to stay focused in the game which will be the final,” Nthala said.

During the semifinal, Zambia were in total control as they led 3-0 at the break courtesy of Bwalya Chileshe’s brace scored inside the opening 35 minutes with substitute Ruth Mukoma extending further the lead two minutes to half-time.

The Copper Princesses cushioned the lead further three minutes after restart through Saliya Mwanza to put the game beyond Botswana’s reach.

Ruth Muwowo then added the icing with a goal one minute into added time. The goal put the icing on the cake to complete the comprehensive victory for Nthala’s team. South Africa beat Namibia 1-0 in the other semifinal to date the Zambians in the final.