Zambia women’s head coach Nora Hauptle has revealed that her players are confident and ready to take on Nigeria in their quarterfinal clash on Friday.
The Copper Queens and the Super Falcons renew their rivalry in the last eight of the 2025 Women’s African Cup of Nations, a rematch of the 2022 bronze medal match.
Zambia won the previous encounter with a single goal, earning their first-ever medal at the championships, and are now aiming to repeat the feat for a second consecutive edition.
Speaking ahead of the crucial fixture, Hauptle stated acknowledged Nigeria’s quality but is confident her team can overcome the challenge to advance to the next stage.
“Of course, we are here to hunt. We respect that Nigeria is a several-time winner of this tournament. I think they are the favourites in this game, but I can assure you that my team is very hungry; we are here to hunt.
It’s a golden generation; we are a young squad. Even our top player, one of the top players in the world, Barbra Banda, is just 25 years old, so I think the improvement of this team in the next year will be massive”, the Zambian coach revealed.
“I see a bright future for my team and I am pretty sure on Friday, in the knockout game, we will show you on the pitch.”
Nigeria must be cautious of Zambia’s deadly attacking duo, Barbra Banda and Rachael Kundananji, who combined for six goals in the group stages.
Despite their attacking prowess, the Copper Queens’ defense has shown weaknesses, shipping four goals in their first two matches.
“Our evolution from the group stage was very good defensively wise. We conceded set pieces, two penalties, and [two] goals out of open play. I think in the third game we kept a clean sheet. We are working on unity in defence—the compactness—because we know that with Nigeria, we don’t have to allow them”, she continued.
“So we have to keep the initiative defense wise where we want to conquer the balls and win the balls. I am very proud of my team and how we’ve developed in this area.”
Zambia and Nigeria clash in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Women’s African Cup of Nations on Friday, with the winner of the tie set to face South Africa or Senegal in the last four.
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