Zambia: Angola Women National Team coach Sousa Garcia struck a philosophical posture ahead of his side’s second leg Women Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Zambia, saying his side will be the winner ‘even if we lose’.
A modest but straight-talking Garcia told a media briefing at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola that Zambia was ten years ahead of Angola in terms of women’s football development.
Garcia said Angola did not lose 6-0 to Zambia because of being poor but just played a superior opponent.
“My hope is to win, and to win is not always to score because, as I said before, I think my players will win more compared to the Zambian players in terms of growth; in terms of result, we hope to win too,” he said.
“The difference between football and maths is that in maths, two plus two is equal to four, while in football, it is not like that. Even if Zambia is stronger than us, we can win, but of course, the chances are low.”
He added: “If we can win, God bless you; if not, we will try to draw, of course. We’re going to try to draw; if not, we can lose by a small difference, not like 6-0, at least 1-0. But as I said before, we will win no matter what.”
Garcia said Zambia was way ahead with a running league while Angola was yet to establish a league.
“In terms of competition, Zambia has a women’s league, Angola does not have; secondly, even if you have a league, you need to have a competitive league. Zambia has so many players playing abroad in Spain and China. We do not have any,” he said.
“The problem is not the way we play but the state of women’s development in our country. We are building a process we need to be patient in future. We can come here to compete face-to-face.
“For us, it is not about the result; we know where we are in the process, we are building a process, if we look at the scale of 1-10, we are two and Zambia are at seven.”
The Copper Queens host Angola today (Tuesday) at 18:00 hours at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in the return leg of the final leg of the Morocco 2024 WAFCON.
Zambia carries a 6-0 first-leg advantage and is one foot into their third consecutive WAFCON qualification.