Carol Kanyemba motivated despite loss in the FIFA Women's World Cup opener

Kanyemba's charges are one of the three African teams at the tournament, alongside Nigeria and Kenya, who are the first national football team from the East African country to make it to a FIFA World Cup. 

"Proud that we were close but sad that we lost the game. We were looking for a point or at least maximum points but all in all, we'll go back and work on our mistakes so that we can come back in the next game stronger," Kanyemba said.

"It's not over, we still have two games and six points to play for and we can get maximum points as long as we capitalise and get goals. You need goals for any tournament to win the game, Brazil had one chance and they got the goal. So, we need to get that as well."

The Copper Princesses, who have only participated in one previous FIFA World Cup in 2014, will next face Poland on Monday, followed by Japan on Wednesday.

Despite the loss, Kanyemba believes her players are strong-willed.

"The fighting spirit, as much as we conceded an early goal, they fought until the last minute and that's the spirit that we look forward to," she added.

"It's very encouraging because most of the time, when a team loses possession or they lose a lead, they give up. But, looking at the girls, the way they performed, they really wanted it and they believed that they could get a goal as long as they kept pushing.

"We still have a chance in this tournament, and we've got six more points that we can grab. If we work hard and get goals in the games, we'll be able to get a better chance of coming out of this group."

Elsewhere, Nigeria hammered New Zealand 4-1 in their opening game of the tournament, while Kenya lost 2-0 to England.

READ: Carol Kanyemba targets FIFA U17 World Cup semi-final spot