The Zambian Senior Women’s National Team had to wait for the referee’s optional time to secure victory over North Macedonia in their opening match of the 2023 Turkish Women’s Cup played in Antalya, Turkey on Wednesday afternoon (15 February).
Grace Chanda’s late strike separated the two sides after the encounter seemed to heading for a stalemate.
“I think our girls played good football, although the score line is not what we expected. First half we dominated play but could not find the back of the net, similarly in the second half we dominated but we ended getting a goal in the last minute. The area of concern is penetration – the finishing, we need to work on that. They (North Macedonia) were more defensive and we did not see much of them. Honestly, we could have won by a bigger margin, and with the remaining two games we need to improve on our finishing, that will be our focus,” head coach Bruce Mwape told FAZ TV.
The Copper Queens next face Slovenia on Saturday, 18 February.
Meanwhile the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana arrived safely in Türkiye on Wednesday afternoon.
They even had a loosening up session before retiring to their rooms for some much-needed rest after a long flight.
Since the announcement of the squad by head coach Desiree Ellis, there had been doubts about the participation of the African Champions in the Turkish Women’s Cup, which saw them fly out of South Africa only on Tuesday night (14 February).
This is because Türkiye has been hit by an earthquake that has left millions displaced and thousands dead, while others are missing.
Following the withdrawal of the hosts, whom the South Africans were meant to face in the first of three matches, the Banyana Banyana will now play only two games – Uzbekistan (Saturday, 18 February) and Slovenia (Tuesday, 21 February) at the Emirhan Sport Complex.
Among the travelling SAFA delegation is the Technical Director, Walter Steenbok, who quelled any fears that lingered about the trip.
“Greetings to all South Africans. We have just arrived safely with the Banyana Banyana team in Antalya, we also want to take this opportunity to wish a speedy recovery to all those people who have been injured in the fatalities in Turkey and pass our condolences to the Turkish government. The team arrived safely today, all contingent of players has arrived safely. The mood is fine in camp, the team has already had an activation session to loosen up and prepare for the tournament. We want to assure the whole of South Africa that the team has arrived safely and everything is OK in Turkey, thank you very much,” said Steenbok on SAFA.net
The team will hold training sessions on Thursday and Friday before tackling
Both South Africa and Zambia are using these matches to get ready for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup that will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 20 July to 20 August.
“We are extremely excited as players, and we are looking forward to the games ahead, which are preparing us for the World Cup. We are just looking forward to doing our best and representing our country quite well, so we are happy to be here, it is a beautiful city and hoping that we make our country proud,” goalkeeper Andile Dlamini told SAFA.net
The participating teams in the 2023 Turkish Women’s Cup are: South Africa, Zambia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Kosovo, Hong Kong, Jordan, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Uzbekistan.
By Matlhomola Morake
