Zambia coach Bruce Mwape says his side is ready for the Turkish Women’s Cup, a key tournament for the team’s preparations for the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand later this year.
The tournament in Turkey is to go ahead despite the devastating earthquake that has left an estimated 40,000 dead, a number that is still rising, in both that country and neighbouring Syria.
Zambia open their campaign against Slovenia on Saturday before a second game against Uzbekistan three days later.
“We are ready for the tournament,” Mwape told FAZ TV. “We started our preparations three weeks ago, although there was a bit of a break. When we came back into camp we had a few local players, quite a big number which we trimmed to 13 players to allow the professionals (overseas-based players) to compete at this tournament.
“It will help us in terms of preparing for the World Cup, although we have come with 24 players, it does not mean it is the final selection. We will assess the players we have here and see who can actually go to the World Cup.
“We still have local players showing they can also be part of the squad. I am sure we will organise some more friendly games to see some of the local players that can be in the squad.”
Zambia played two friendly matches against Colombia last November, both of which ended in 1-0 defeats. Mwape knows what improvements he wants to see from those.
“In the Colombia games, what we noticed is that sometimes there were lapses in terms of defending. The group defending was OK, but we are trying to work on the individual defending, starting on the first line of defence, which is the strikers, to the last line, which is the back four or five.
“We will take it seriously because we have a lot to prove, and people expect us to show a good game. The players know they have got a task ahead of them, so they need to work hard.”
Zambia will debut at the World Cup, starting with a fixture against Japan on July 22. They will also play Spain and Costa Rica.