Zambia’s Copper Queens head coach, Nora Häuptle, has declared that her side will adopt an attacking approach against Nigeria’s Super Falcons when both teams meet in Saturday’s decisive WAFCON Group C encounter.
Häuptle insisted her team has no intention of settling for a draw, expressing confidence that Zambia’s growth and experience against top-ranked opposition have prepared them to challenge the nine-time African champions.
“We never play for a draw, it’s not in our nature, we always chase for the lead in games. In the last edition we lost against Nigeria in the Quarterfinals, we learnt a lot in the game in our game against Egypt we were flexible so we can surprise Nigeria.
“We have grown as a team, this year we played in the FIFA series where we faced top 20 oppositions in the world to learn about high level games and the summary of those learnings makes us stronger and make us grow so I have a lot of confidence in my team.”
The Swiss tactician also expects a strong response from the Super Falcons following their disappointing 3-2 defeat to Malawi in their opening fixture, noting that Nigeria must avoid another setback to keep their tournament hopes alive.
“After losing their first game I believe they will come all out otherwise they will lose out of the tournament. We are aware of their strengths and are prepared for them, focus on ourselves, we have a clear plan how we want to approach them and we believe if we bring our plan and execute it we can challenge and beat Nigeria.”
