Zambia Senior Women’s National Team skipper Barbara Banda is still optimistic her team can overturn the first-leg defeat against Uganda.
The Copper Queens, despite taking an early lead against the Crested Cranes of Uganda in the first leg of the Olympics Qualifiers on Thursday at Hamz Stadium, Nakivubo in Kampala, eventually suffered a 2-1 loss.
The captain, Banda, believes Zambia will be able to bounce back at home next week after rectifying some of the mistakes committed in the first leg.
“I believe there are some mistakes we made in the first leg which we need to go back to the drawing board and rectify, but I have the belief that we can be able to overturn this result and progress to the next round,” she said.
Prisca Chilufya fired Zambia into an early lead, scoring just six minutes after kickoff, but Uganda fought back to score twice through Agnes Nabukenya and Sylvia Kabene.
Zambia has qualified for the last Olympic editions, but Uganda now stands in their way, leading 2-1 with the return leg slated for Tuesday at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
The winner on aggregate between Uganda and Zambia will face either Mauritius or Ghana at the next qualification hurdle.
