Zambia players celebrate. Photo Credit: COSAFA Media.
Striker Mercy Chipasula’s seven goals propelled Zambia to the 2024 COSAFA Under-17 Girls Championship after pulverizing Lesotho 15-0 at the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus Stadium in South Africa on Friday.
The Young Copper Queens set the tone for the one-way traffic when Masela Sekeseke scored barely four minutes into the game before Hellen Banda added the second two minutes later.
Eventually, Mercy Chipasula seized control to score a hat-trick with goals in the seventh, 16th and 36th minutes, the most notable one being the sixth. She slid in after connecting a low delivery from the right across the goal mouth.
Lilian Mwenda added the sixth goal with four minutes remaining to break. Coach Carol Kanyemba had before the match declared that Zambia wanted the title more. She got her wish as her side went to break with a luxurious 6-0 lead.
Little wonder, Chipasula added four more goals in the second half, Banda one goal, Sekeseke two more goals with Janet Chirwa and Wendy Mwikisa joining the goals party.
Ahead of the final, Lesotho coach Tjamela Tjamela had warned Zambia against underrating them. However, such a threat proved irrelevant as his girls looked disorganized and disoriented.
As we went to press, Zambia boys' team met their Angolan counterparts in the final of COSAFA Qualifiers of the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
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