Zambia U17 girls held by SA

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Football | Zambia

The Zambia U17 girls team and their South African counterparts played out a 3 – 3 draw in the first leg of the second qualification round of the African qualifiers of the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup played at Nkoloma Stadium on Sunday.
Ireen Lungu opened the scoring on 15 minutes when she drove in a powerful shot from a free-kick which Juliet Sethole failed to handle comfortably, the force behind the ball making her drop the ball into her own net.

South Africa equalised through Gabriella Salgado in the 27th minute only for Mary Mulenga to restore Zambia’s lead in the 32nd minute.
Two quick-fire goals from Salgado and Anelisa Ndyebi in the 39th and 40th minutes respectively meant that the visitors equalised and took a 3 - 2 at the break.
The best goal of the match was the only one scored by Jane Mubanga who cleverly dribbled past Channelle Wiltshere before lobbing the ball beyond Sethole in goal for South Africa.
Zambia coach Albert Kachinga described the match as entertaining in terms of goals scored but added that it meant there were problems in defence that needed to be addressed before the return leg in three weeks.
“We need to polish up in defence and we also need to work on being clinical in front of goal because we had several chances. We scored three goals and missed several chances; that just goes to show that South Africa can be vulnerable and that anything can happen in the second leg,” Kachinga said.
Kachinga added that this was the first real test at international level for some of the girls especially Hazel Nali who was started in goal.
“We should not take away anything from the girls. They really put up a good fight. For the goalkeeper, this was her first international match so the mistakes she made were due to lack of experience but I am pretty sure she has learnt something from this match and she will come good in the next,” he said.
And South Africa coach Sheryl Botes believes the two sides are evenly matched going into the return match.
“Zambia has got a good side; they scored three goals against us. I also believe that we have a good side but for me the tie is evenly matched even the scoreline can tell you. But I also believe that we have an upper hand because we will play at home and we will have the support on our side,” said Botes.
The return leg will be played during the weekend of 22nd to 24th November.