Shepolopolo Zambia midfielder Evarine Katongo is upbeat ahead of Monday night’s Women’s Africa Cup semifinal clash against archrivals South Africa in Casablanca, Morocco.
The match will kick off at 19h00.
In a pre-match interview with FAZ Media, Katongo said Zambia is aiming for the final as they battle Banyana.
Zambia eliminated Senegal at the quarterfinal stage while South Africa saw off Tunisia.
“It is really important to get to the final. Qualifying to the final will take the name of our country to a higher level so we just have to win to go to the final because it is even a great motivation to us,” Katongo said.
“Our goal is to take the trophy back to our country,” the Under-17 graduate said.
Katongo is predicting a tough encounter against South Africa.
“The game which we are going to play against South Africa it is not going to be an easy game. It is going to be a tough game because even us and them want to go to the final. We just have to take this game seriously. Go has hard as we can, put more effort and probably win the game,” Katongo said.
She believes Zambia’s 3-0 friendly match win against Banyana earlier in February, 2022 won’t be a factor in this match.
“When we played the friendly against South Africa there were no professional (foreign based) players but this time South Africa has foreign based players. So this game is not going to be easy but we are going to work extra hard,” Katongo said.
Meanwhile, hosts Morocco will face champions Nigeria in the other Africa Cup semifinal match later on Monday night.
Congratulations Chipolopolo for removing and wiping tears of Zambians. This was the Chipolopolo we all know. Thank you a million times. You were a team worth watching. keep it up. Coach and the the technical staff thank you for working together in unity. UPND Government thank you for your support