Chipasula Rallies Copper Princesses: Teamwork the Key as Zambia Chase U17 World Cup Spot

Mercy Chipasula, the Zambia Under-17 captain, emphasizes the need for teamwork to qualify for the 2025 Under-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Copper Princesses are in Lome, Togo, for the second leg of the third-round match against Benin of the U17 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

With Zambia leading 2-1 on aggregate from the first leg, the victor of this match will secure a spot in the global showpiece hosted by Morocco.

Carol Kanyemba’s lasses will be in action on Saturday at 17:00 CAT.

Chipasula, who scored twice at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola on Saturday, emphasized the importance of prioritizing teamwork over individual brilliance when speaking before the match.

Chipasula is confident that the team will handle the pressure of playing in front of the home team’s supporters.

“We are leading 2-1, and we have to score more goals because there are only 90 minutes between us and qualification for the World Cup. We need to be solid at the back not to allow goals,” Chipasula said.

“Covering the spaces and playing as a team are crucial because winning is not about the captain; the fans will credit the Zambia national team for the victory and qualification.”

Head coach Carol Kanyemba believes that Benin will hold an advantage as the home team, even though the match is being played at a neutral venue.

Kanyemba mentioned that the players are mentally prepared and focused for Saturday’s match.

“We’ve got pressure, though we are favourites, but we’ve got a lot of expectations from the people around. And just our own challenge to be able to beat the record that we achieved last year – it’s a lot of pressure,” Kanyemba said.

“But what we are keeping in mind is that we coaches have done our job. Technically, tactically, we’ve given the players the information that they need. From the first game that we played, the errors that we had, we created a lot of chances. We missed out on a lot of opportunities, so we’ve been telling the girls to believe in themselves and have confidence and make the right choices, and we’ve worked more on the finishing part, which was our area of concern.”