Copper Queens lose 0-4 to Canada, aim to bounce back against Brazil

Zambia women’s national football team assistant coach, Charles Haalubono, says his side expects an improved performance against Brazil after nearly all players joined camp following a heavy defeat to Canada.

Zambia opened their FIFA Series tournament campaign with a 4-0 loss to Canada at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba.

Speaking after the match, Haalubono said the late arrival of key players had affected the team’s performance.

“First of all, we conceded the first two goals in the first half towards the end of the first half. That was a sign of, you know, fatigue coming in. Because we had players coming in, some this morning, others came in yesterday. So they haven’t rested so much,” he said.

Despite the result, he praised the team’s resilience and said they had prepared well tactically.

“We tried by all means to prepare well tactically, which we managed to do with Canada. I know it was fatigue which came in towards the end of the first half and the final whistle,” he said.

Haalubono said the team would benefit from more preparation time ahead of the match against Brazil.

“Now we have all the players in except for Irene Lungu whom we are expecting tomorrow (Sunday). I think we are going to have a full house which will give us an upper hand. I know Brazil is a very strong team but we are here to compete,” he said.

He also paid tribute to players who arrived less than 24 hours before the match and still featured after coming on in the second half.

Haalubono said such high-level matches provided valuable preparation for the upcoming Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled for July, which will also serve as part of the qualification pathway for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be hosted by Brazil.

Zambia will face Brazil on Tuesday at the same venue at 21:00 local time (03:00 Zambian time).

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