WAFCON: Namibia coach Kakuva promises early goal to destabilise Zambia

Namibia women’s national team coach Lucky Kakuva has stayed positive heading into their return leg of the 2026 Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) against Zambia at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium on Sunday.

Speaking ahead of the return leg, Kakuva said his aim would be to push his lasses to play well and turn Zambian fans against their team.

“I mean our aim is to unsettle Zambia, to beat Zambia then from a coaching perspective try to get an early go and maybe from that perspective turn the Zambian fans against their own team,” he says.

The Brave Gladiators coach says his team is more than capable of overturning the 4-2 first leg deficit and pip Zambia to the WAFCON ticket.

Zambia game very crucial for Namibia

“We lost the previous match against Zambia; this match is crucial and dear to us. We have changed our approach, the objective is to do whatever is in our power to unsettle Zambia and come with a very positive result,” he said.

“We are fully aware of the magnitude of the task at hand; I have equally seen that based on the match that we played we are more than capable to unsettle and beat Zambia.”

On playing before a capacity crowd, Kakuva says, “From a player perspective when you play in a stadium that is full to capacity that is just good omen for players that is what footballers like.

From a mental perspective, we have prepared our players; accordingly, our players are quite experienced they know the magnitude, the importance of this match. They are more than ready and raring to go.”

Speaking on behalf of the players, captain Lovisa Mulunga said: “This is a very important game for us; it is unfortunate that we lost the first leg. But obviously the spirit in our team is very high and we are game to execute this task to the very last of the 90 minutes to the best of our abilities,” she says.

“This is not going to be easy for us; we are just hoping to put up a great show and come out victorious in this game. We have analysed where we fell short and obviously, we are trying to work on our mistakes and make sure that we do not allow the strikers from Zambia to take their chances.”

The winner over two legs qualify to the WAFCON which will be a qualification tournament to the Brazil 2027 FIFA World Cup.

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