DR Congo coach Coach Baylon Kabongolo is threatening to use the tactics of a Leopard against Zambia in Saturday’s first leg match of the second round for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
DR Congo were on bye in the previous round after Djibouti pulled out of the race as Zambia eliminated Rwanda.
In a pre-match comment, Kabongolo said DR Congo were upbeat despite knowing that Zambia was doing better in women football.
“It is quite unfortunate that Djibouti pulled out. It could have been a good preparation for us. But as Congo, we are ready for the match at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium,” he said at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Kabongolo said: “Zambian women’s football is ahead of us and since we are playing Zambia, we want to apply ourselves. Yes, Zambia has been playing but we have prepared well for the game and we are ready. You know we are Leopards.”
Kickoff is at 15h00.
Congolese captain Priscilla Mantobo said DRC wants to shock Zambia at home in Ndola.
“We are confident we can win tomorrow. We watched the two games Zambia played against Rwanda and Zambia was good but in our local language we say Leopards are problematic so we will do just that to Zambia,” Mantobo said.
Zambia coach Carol Kanyemba said she aware of the huge challenge the Congolese pose against Zambia.
“We do not have a lot of footage on the Congolese, but we watched the team in the game they had last year when they played against Benin.”
“We hope their philosophy that they are using is the same, but every crop of players is different, so they come here as a different team altogether,” Kanyemba said.
Zambia captain Taonga Mubanga her team won’t be intimidated by the Congolese’s big stature.
“For tomorrow’s game we are very much ready. Quite alright we don’t know Congo that much; all we know is that they have big bodies but that will not intimidate us. We just have to play a passing game and keep the ball on the ground,” Mubanga said.
Zambia is seeking a third World Cup appearance at under-17 women level.
