Zambia’s Copper Queens head coach, Nora Häuptle, has openly acknowledged the superiority of the Super Falcons following her team’s crushing 5-0 loss in the quarter-finals of the WAFCON qualifiers.
The Zambians were completely outplayed by Nigeria at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca on Friday night.
The nine-time African champions stormed into the lead with first-half goals from Osinachi Ohale, Esther Okoronkwo, and Chiwendu Ihezuo.
The Super Falcons continued their dominance after the break, with Oluwatosin Demehin and Folashade Ijamilusi adding their names to the scoresheet, completing a commanding display.
Reacting after the defeat, Häuptle did not shy away from giving credit to the Nigerian side for their clear-cut win.
“Very clear loss for us. Congratulations to Nigeria for the well-deserved victory. I think today we need to accept that Nigeria was better than us,” she admitted. “None of us has been on top—neither the players nor me as coach. It was a collective loss.”
Häuptle pointed out the gulf in quality between the two squads, particularly in terms of player experience and exposure.
“In the Nigerian squad, you see almost everyone plays abroad, either in France or America. They have much more players abroad. Nigeria is a country with about 200 million people, and Zambia has just 20 million. We don’t have so much talent,” she explained.
She also noted that her players struggled to match Nigeria’s physicality and tactical discipline throughout the game.
“We’ve seen that physically, we’re not on the same level. We need to go back and find ways for our players to go abroad earlier and develop,” the Swiss tactician added.
Currently, Zambia has about nine or ten players plying their trade overseas, but the bulk of the team still plays domestically, something Häuptle believes contributes to the performance gap on the continental stage.
Despite the humbling scoreline, the coach remained optimistic about the future of her team and vowed to continue pushing forward.
“We said we were going to hunt. Nigeria are several-time winners, but we are on a growth path and development journey. We will also hunt in the next tournament. We are hungry and will continue to improve. We don’t care much what others say,” she declared.
The Copper Queens will now regroup and look ahead, drawing lessons from the defeat as they chart a path toward better performances in future competitions.