Shepolopolo have been eliminated from the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Championship by Botswana at the semifinal stage.
Zambia succumbed to a 2-1 loss to Botswana in the first semi final played on Thursday afternoon at Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Ireen “Xavi” Lungu scored Zambia’s consolation as her side failed to come back into the game after conceding an early goal.
Botswana led after eight minutes with Refilwe Tebogo Tholekele beating Zambian keeper Hazel Nali.
Tholekele scored her and Botswana’s second goal after converting a penalty seven minutes away from the break.
It is a disappointing outing for the Zambian side that earned a maiden Olympic Games qualification earlier in the year.
Coach Bruce Mwape’s beat Lesotho 8-0 in the opening match before losing to Malawi 1-0 prior to reaching the semifinals as the best-placed runner-up.
Zambia were runners up at the same competition last year.
The girls played a good game and dominated play having 72% ball possession as compared to Botswana’s 28%. They created 16 coners and shot on target 71 times. They did everything in the book but to no avail. They also conceded a foolish penalty. I feel the technical bench have a lot to do before we go to the Olympics. This is the time coaches have to show their mantle as the major problem this team has is poor finishing. You can shoot on target 71 times and score only a single goal. Botswana sat at the back most of the time defending and what mattered there was to change the system of play. However this is good experience for the team. These girls should be told to be calm even when they concede because once they go into panic mood they spoil everything. There is need also to work on…
But you just told us they are meeting Tanzania in the fina