Zambia face Botswana in World Cup qualifiers

ZAMBIA will start the campaign for the 2014 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup with an easy looking first round qualifier against Botswana.
According to the fixtures released by FIFA, the African Under-17 Women’s World Cup preliminary qualifiers involving eight countries will be played over two rounds with the first slated for next month.
The eight countries that will kick off the first round are Botswana, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, South Sudan and Zambia.
Ghana take on Congo, Morocco are up against debutants South Sudan while fast improving Equatorial Guinea have a difficult encounter against Kenya.
Winners of the first round will be joined in the final round by African heavyweights Nigeria and Banyana Banyana of South Africa with the first legs slated for November.
The winners will represent the continent at the fourth edition of the Costa Rica FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
Zambia thrashed Botswana 7-1 on aggregate in the 2012 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
Should the She-polopolo beat Botswana after two legs they will face Banyana Banyana in the final round.
Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) communications manager Erick Mwanza said with the fixtures drawn the She-polopolo technical bench will start fine tuning the team for the qualifiers.
Mwanza said FAZ will ensure the team adequately prepares for the qualifiers.
“It is time we start preparing more intensely for the qualifiers. Botswana and South Africa are strong opponents but we are very hopeful the ladies will do what is expected of them by qualifying to the World Cup,” Mwanza said.
He said the junior She-polopolo’s triumph during the 2012 Supreme Counncil for Sports in Africa Zone Six Games will motivate the team to perform to expectation in the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.