Daily Nation Newspaper

SHE-POLOPOLO NOW FOCUS ON TOKYO OLYMPICS

- By GRACE CHAILE LESOETSA

finishing

as COSAFA silver medalists, the senior

omen s national team

have pledged to work extra hard to ensure they qualify to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

She-polopolo shift focus to the second

ro n fir t leg l ic

qualifying match against Zimbabwe scheduled for

g t in a a

Zambia on Sunday lost 1-0 to South Africa in

their fir t final

to grab silver. The two teams are scheduled to arrive back home tonight.

Goalkeeper Hazel Nali said the team will use lessons picked from the regional tournament to inspire an historic

l ic alificatio­n

Nali said the team was not disappoint­ed with their performanc­e in South Africa despite failing to win the title.

“We are not disappoint­ed with our performanc­e. We made a few errors and failed to score against South Africa. This tournament was some sort of preparatio­n for us ahead of the Olympic

alifier

“We will work on the mistakes in order to qualify for Olympics,” Nali said.

COSAFA player of the tournament striker Hellen Mubanga said she was happy to have impressed at the tournament after a long absence due to injury. “I am happy to have impressed in the tournament especially after an injury. As a player these are the things you should aim for apart from the title. I will continue to work hard as we have an upcoming alifier atch Mubanga said.

Golden boot winner Rachel Nachula who netted 10 goals has hailed her teammates for the unity and hard work.

“So happy to have gotten the golden boot

a ar an it all than

to my teammates. They encouraged me to score every time I had the ball.

he final a a

game and we just had a lapse in concentrat­ion and they pounced on it,” she said.

Zambia Sports Fans Associatio­n patron Peter Makembo said the team showed passion and dedication in each game.

Makembo said their performanc­e showed that the future of

o en foot all

bright. i

 ??  ?? Zambia’s Martha Tembo (right) tries to go past South African defender Busiswe Ndimeni.
Zambia’s Martha Tembo (right) tries to go past South African defender Busiswe Ndimeni.

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