The Copper Queens coach is not happy with the absence of some of his top players ahead of the regional event in South Africa
Zambia will feature in the 2020 Cosafa Women’s Cup in South Africa and the Copper Queens will have to make do without several key players, much to the dismay of head coach Bruce Nwape.
Nwape had guided the Zambians to a first-ever final appearance at last year’s event in South Africa but will miss some of their top stars, including Rachel Nachula who helped him achieve the feat.
Major absences are Nachula, who finished as the top scorer with 10 goals and Hellen Mubanga, who was named the 2019 Player of the Tournament, are now both with Zaragoza in Spain.
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Others are Rachel Kundananji and Mary Mwakapila who will be missed for club engagements in Kazakhstan and Israel respectively.
Despite his disappointment, the gaffer, who led the team to a maiden Olympic Games qualification earlier in March is upbeat about their chances, especially with the availability of Barbra Banda.
“Barbra Banda is here with us and she was part of the team that played a friendly against Buffaloes and she actually did well,” Mwape told Cosafa.com.
“All I can say is that it [absence of players] will affect us but we will try by all means to do better than we did last year.
“The young ones like Natasha Nanyangwe and Maylan Mulenga are both doing fine.
“Although we are lacking the much-needed striking force, with the presence of Barbara I don’t think that will be a problem.”
Zambia are zoned in a tough Group B, alongside Malawi and Lesotho in Nelson Mandela Bay and will launch their campaign against Lesotho on November before Malawi five days later.
