…Copper Queens still have a chance says Barbra Banda
By MICHAEL MIYOBA
BARBRA Banda says the Copper Queens still have a chance to progress to the knockout stage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup despite having launched their campaign with a humiliating defeat.
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The Copper Queens kicked off their World Cup campaign on a disappointing note following a 5-0 bashing by former Champions Japan who shot to the summit of Group C after a flying start at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand.
A brace from Hinata Miyazawa was separated by a Mina Tanaka strike before Jun Endo added a fourth for Japan
The Copper Queens were reduced to 10 when goalkeeper Catherine Musonda got a second yellow card for conceding a late penalty which was converted by Riko Ueki who beat Musonda’s replacement Eunice Sakala with a second attempt after the first attempt was saved before the referee ordered a retake when Sakala was ruled to have come off her line.
Banda, the Copper Queens’ captain said the team had picked lessons from the defeat to Japan and were looking forward to bounce back in the remaining group C games against Spain and Costa Rica.
“We had a bad day but we still have a chance. We still have two games remaining and we have to work on our mistakes in the previous game,” Banda said.
“Right now, we are not concentrating on the Japan game, it has passed so we are looking forward to the game against Spain on Wednesday and we have to go back to the drawing board and see where we went wrong and the mistakes we made so that we can improve,” she said.
The Copper Queens struggled against Japan and finished the game without a single shot on goal while Japan had 25 attempts with 11 on target.
Banda admitted that the performance was disappointing for the Copper Queens who conceded unexpected goals.
Asked what the team needs to do to get a positive result against Spain in the next fixture Banda said; “Against Spain it won’t be an easy game but we just have to go there with a good mentality and we are hoping to get the best results in the remaining games.”
“Spain is a very good team, it is not a push over so we just have to be ready for them and work extra hard as a team we need to push each other. It will be very important for us to get a win and also fight for a win against Costa Rica for us to qualify to the next round,” Banda said.
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