Zambia’s thrilled head coach Florence Mwila said she was pleased to follow through on their promise of winning the Hollywoodbest Cosafa Women’s Cup.
Zambia beat Banyana Banyana 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out to take their second Cosafa Women’s Championship title at the Wolfson Stadium on Saturday evening after their triumph in 2022.
The game finished goalless after both regulation and extra time and had to be decided from the spot with the clinical Copper Queens delivering spectacularly to silence the large home crowd.
Zambia topped Group C after collecting six points from two matches.
They went on to play defending champions Malawi in the semifinals of the Cosafa Women’s Championship and beat them 2-0 to meet Banyana in the final.
“We thank God we got the trophy like we promised that we would, but it wasn’t an easy game,” Mwila said.
“I think we did not settle well when it started. We just kept playing long balls and they outnumbered us at the back.
“We were finding ourselves playing two against five, which is something that we went to talk about at halftime.
“We needed to settle, and we had a lot of scoring opportunities, but there was no patience because they were in a hurry to score and that saw us not convert those.
“But overall we are proud of the girls and how far they have come.”
Meanwhile, SA coach Maude Khumalo was left to console her youthful squad after the loss.
Disappointment and hurt were written on the Banyana players’ faces after they had qualified for the final by beating Mozambique 4-1 on penalties.
“Zambia have more experience than our young Banyana team,” Khumalo said.
“We are trying to build a team, future players that could maybe help beef up the senior team to prepare for the upcoming tournament like the Afcon.
“To be honest, I am very much positive because these are young players and this is where you start to build.
“With Zambia’s experienced side, today’s match was about experience versus our energy.
“Given that we are a young squad, this was more about building character and testing these young ones to see if they can step up and play a game of this magnitude.
“When you look at our game against Mozambique, the intensity was so high and going to this game no-one thought that we would go to 90 minutes, extra time and penalties.
“But the final was a final because we went through every stage and when you get to penalties it’s anyone’s game,” Khumalo said.
HeraldLIVE
Zambia follow through on promise to win Cosafa Women’s Championship
Disappointment for youthful Banyana Banyana side as penalty shoot-out sees coveted trophy slip away
Soccer reporter
Image: RICHARD HUGGARD/GALLO IMAGES
Zambia’s thrilled head coach Florence Mwila said she was pleased to follow through on their promise of winning the Hollywoodbest Cosafa Women’s Cup.
Zambia beat Banyana Banyana 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out to take their second Cosafa Women’s Championship title at the Wolfson Stadium on Saturday evening after their triumph in 2022.
The game finished goalless after both regulation and extra time and had to be decided from the spot with the clinical Copper Queens delivering spectacularly to silence the large home crowd.
Zambia topped Group C after collecting six points from two matches.
They went on to play defending champions Malawi in the semifinals of the Cosafa Women’s Championship and beat them 2-0 to meet Banyana in the final.
“We thank God we got the trophy like we promised that we would, but it wasn’t an easy game,” Mwila said.
“I think we did not settle well when it started. We just kept playing long balls and they outnumbered us at the back.
“We were finding ourselves playing two against five, which is something that we went to talk about at halftime.
“We needed to settle, and we had a lot of scoring opportunities, but there was no patience because they were in a hurry to score and that saw us not convert those.
“But overall we are proud of the girls and how far they have come.”
Meanwhile, SA coach Maude Khumalo was left to console her youthful squad after the loss.
Disappointment and hurt were written on the Banyana players’ faces after they had qualified for the final by beating Mozambique 4-1 on penalties.
“Zambia have more experience than our young Banyana team,” Khumalo said.
“We are trying to build a team, future players that could maybe help beef up the senior team to prepare for the upcoming tournament like the Afcon.
“To be honest, I am very much positive because these are young players and this is where you start to build.
“With Zambia’s experienced side, today’s match was about experience versus our energy.
“Given that we are a young squad, this was more about building character and testing these young ones to see if they can step up and play a game of this magnitude.
“When you look at our game against Mozambique, the intensity was so high and going to this game no-one thought that we would go to 90 minutes, extra time and penalties.
“But the final was a final because we went through every stage and when you get to penalties it’s anyone’s game,” Khumalo said.
HeraldLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Latest Videos
Most Read
Rugby
Rugby
Sport
Sport
Cricket