Zambia chief coach Nora Hauptle issued a daring statement prior to the Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) on Friday quarterfinals with nine times champions Nigeria.
During her pre-match press conference in Casablanca, Hauptle expressed respect for the dominance of the Super Falcons, but it insisted that the copper queens are ready to detect the favorites.
“Of course we are here to hunt,” said Hauptle. “We respect that Nigeria is a more winner of this tournament. I think they are the favorites in this game, but I can assure you that my team is very hungry; we are here to hunt.”
The collision comes with high bet, because Nigeria wants to maintain that he has reached every Wafcon semi-final since the competition started, while Zambia is haunting back-to-back semi-final performances after winning bronze in 2022.
A golden generation for Zambia
Hauptle described her side as a young, ambitious team full of talent and trust:
“It is a golden generation; we are a young team. Even our top player, one of the top players in the world, Barbra Banda, is only 25 years old. I think the improvement of this team will be huge in the following year. I see a clear future for my team and I am pretty sure that Friday, in the Knock -Out game, we will see on the field.”
Stronger at the back
Despite the fact that he has admitted four goals in the group stage, Hauptle says that the defense of Zambia has improved considerably:
“Our evolution from the group stage was very good defensive wise. We admitted set -pieces, two penalties and two goals from open game. In the third game we have kept a clean leaf. We are working on unity in Defense – De Compact – De Compact – De Compact – De Ballen the balls and the balls. We have in this area.”
Friday’s quarterfinals promises an exciting battle while Nigeria is fighting to protect his inheritance and Zambia tries to rewrite history.
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