By GODFREY DUBE –

•ZAMBIA striker Noria Sosala tries to negotiate her way past two Zimbabwean defenders Schiela Nakoto (9) and Samkelisiwe Zulu (7) during Saturday’s Africa Women Cup of Nations final round return leg clash at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka. Picture by GWEN CHIPASULA

SHEPOLOPOLO coach Albert Kachinga says the home loss to Zimbabwe in the 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations qualifier has gutted him especially that his side conceded three goals.
He described the loss as disappointing and that it was time to go back to the basics.
Kachinga said he never expected his girls to play so badly when they had the fans’ supporting behind them to push on.
Zambia after losing 1-0 away to Zimbabwe was beaten 3-2 at home to go out 4-2 on aggregate.
“I am disappointed with the result, we wanted to qualify but unfortunate we have lost again.
“The girls did not play as expected, in the first place, we lacked pace in the right back and our opponents took advantage, we have to go back to the basics and start afresh, we can use the under-17 and we can build on from there,” he said.
Zimbabwe coach Shadreck Mlauzi expressed happiness with the victory especially that his team had qualified for both Olympics and the Africa Women Championship (AWC) and expressed disappointment with the match officials whom he accused of trying to influence the result of the game.
“It was a tough game for both teams, Zambia gave us a good run which shows that both me and the Zambia coach had planned good tactics, I am happy that we have managed to beat our opponent home and away match,” he said.
Meanwhile Sports Minister Vincent Mwale said there was need to establish a vibrant league for women football if the country was to improve the standard of the game.
Speaking after the Shepolopolo lost to Zimbabwe, Mwale said it was unfortunate that the Shepolopolo failed to beat Zimbabwe even in the return leg with the crowd cheering them.
“It’s unfortunate we have failed to beat Zimbabwe even here at home but that’s what the game of football is all about, there is need to establish a vibrant league for the women so that they can improve,” he said.
And FAZ president Andrew Kamanga said it was sad that Shepolopolo fell to Zimbabwe.
“We look forward to the next tournament, we lost the game in Zimbabwe and here now.
“It was not just our day, we put in a lot of effort but we could not get the result we wanted,” he said.
Zambia qualified to its first Africa Women Championship (AWC) in 2014 after beating Zimbabwe 2-0 on aggregate in the final round but their dream to go for the championship again were thwarted by the same Zimbabwe.