Zambia coach confident they can bounce back against Germany

Zambia lost their opening Group B game 3-0 against the United States, before losing 6-5 to Australia – despite leading 5-2 at one point in the second half.

Germany, previous gold and three-time bronze medalists at the Games, will fancy their chances against the Copper Queens, who are competing in their consecutive Olympics but have yet to make it out of the group stages.

Mwape hopes the players won’t lose concentration, as they did against the Matildas, when they face Germany on Wednesday evening (19:00 kick-off).

"For the next game, I think we shouldn't actually lose hope. There's still hope because, if we win, we'll have three points and other teams have got three points as well, and they are picking at least two of the best losers–we could fight for that," Mwape said.

Zambia captain Barbra Banda, who scored a hat-trick in their loss against Australia–her third in the Games, is currently the leading goal-scorer in the NWSL with 11 goals in 11 games. 

Mwape, however, argues they could have played to at least a draw against Australia, had the 24-year-old not shown exhaustion towards the end of the game.

"She played well, but towards the end of the game, she also got tired and that also contributed to us failing to equalise, but otherwise all-in-all she played well," he noted.

"That [hat-trick] is good for our team because this is now another hat-trick in two consecutive Olympic tournaments."

In group B, the USA have already qualified for the knockout stage, while Germany is second with three points, and Australia third, also with three points. 

Zambia prop up the group with zero points after two matches played.