Ghana must fall – Makembo – Scoop Newspaper

By Fulman Mukobeko

ZAMBIA Sports Fans Association (ZASPOFA) president Peter Makembo is confident that the Copper Queens will emerge victorious against Ghana in today’s the second leg of the women’s Olympic Games third round qualifiers.

Zambia scored a first half goal to beat Ghana 1-0 in the game played at the Accra Sports Stadium.

RechaelKundananji – the world’s most expensive female footballer scored the only goal of the match to give Zambia a fascinating first leg advantage. The Bay FC forward chipped the ball over the advancing Ghana goalkeeper Victoria AntwiAdjei inside 18 minutes to give the Copper Queens the lead.

Back from recess, the Black Queens gained composure as they dominated the game but failed to put the ball at the back of the opponent’s net with a few clear-cut chances going begging.

Despite a slender victory and some mediocre performance that exposed weakness in the midfield in Accra, Makembo said he was satisfied with the result but that the job must be completed today.

He said the win put the Copper Queen in a driving seat as the two nations battle it out in Ndola this evening.

“As a mother body of the sports fraternity, we are very happy that we picked a victory there. A victory is a victory no matter how many goals they score. That was a relief for us because back home the same day, I led fans for the burial of our late national team player Karen Betani,” he said.

But Pastor Makembo said the Copper Queens should not be complacent with the one-goal cushion but ensure they beat their opponents in the crucial match and qualify to the next round.

“Here is a caution to my girls; they should not relax because if they do so, they will have problems as their opponent will capitalise on them. As fans, we need them to tread very cautiously,” he said.

The former City of Lusaka defender called on the soccer fans to give the team a thunderous support.

“My appeal to the fans is that we must turn up in numbers in the same way we did with Angola here. Charge your phones because we are going to play at night. We want to glitter the atmosphere, to send a signal…a signal that will motivate our team to move where we want them to move. As Zambia, our machinery will move there. It is not like in Ivory Coast (Africa Cup of nations) where we failed to travel because we had no means of traveling. We will fill the stadium,” he promised.