SHEPOLOPOLO PLOT FOR THE MOTHER OF ALL GIANT-KILLING ACTS

Zambia Battle Record WAFCON Champions Nigeria For Bronze

(Photo Credit CAF)

Shepolopolo Zambia are determined to end a historic Women’s AFCON outing in blaze of glory with the mother of all giant-killing acts when they face dethroned record 11-time champions Nigeria in the battle for bronze on Friday night in Casablanca.

Bruised, hurting and drained following respective controversial semifinal defeats, Nigeria and Zambia meet on July 22 in a third-and-fourth place play-off fixture ahead of the final between Morocco and South Africa on July 23.

Nigeria were dumped out on post-match penalties by Morocco in a match the ex-WAFCON champions ended the game with two red cards following a 1-1 draw.

Shepolopolo on the other hand lost 1-0 to South Africa thanks to a penalty at the death awarded in questionable fashion despite VAR clearly showing the foul was committed outside the box.

But Shepolopolo head into the battle for Bronze to play their biggest game so far against a Nigerian side they have yet to beat.

However, Coach Bruce Mwape said they are looking forward to making a statement and put any doubts to rest that they must now be taken seriously as a new African women’s football superpower.

Zambia, who made their Olympic debut in Tokyo last July, have suffered just one defeat at WAFCON in that semifinal.

Shepolopolo also made history in Morocco, where they not only made their WAFCON semifinal debut and qualified to the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time, but also made a first-ever knockout round appearance after two previous group stage exits.

"Being the last game I still want to say that we want to finish on a good note," Mwape said.

"We have come a long way and this being the last game we should go back home with at least a medal."

It is an audacious declaration by Mwape as Shepolopolo plot to halt Nigeria’s dominance over them after going down 6-0 at the 2014 WAFCON and 3-0 at the 2018 WAFCON.

Nigeria are also Africa’s top ranked nation on the quarterly FIFA Women’s charts at number 39 while Shepolopolo are an eyebrow-raising 103 despite their well-documented exploits over the last 24 months.

"We are ready for this game, we have prepared accordingly and we want to come out as winners," Mwape said.