Zambia deny Morocco of Paris 2024 Olympic Games ticket
The Copper Queens of Zambia are through to their second consecutive Olympics Women’s Football Tournament after doing the unthinkable in reversing a 2-1 home defeat to a 2-0 win over Morocco on Tuesday evening.
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The match played at the Prince Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat ended in a 2-0 win for Zambia and a 3-2 lead on aggregate.
A brace by the CopperQueens skipper, Barbra Banda who shone at the previous edition of the global showpiece ensured that Zambia go through after a nervy start.
Banda gave the Zambians the lead just before the break in the 40th minute which sprung hope into the visitors against a highly spirited Morocco side.
Needing just a goal to secure their ticket without conceding, Zambia sent more numbers forward and pinned the Moroccans into their own half who eventually made a mistake through a hand-ball by Najat Badri for the referee to point to the penalty spot.
It was again the skipper who stepped up to find the second which was the goal that sent the Zambians to their second Olympics tournament in succession.
With this being their second successive appearance, the Copper Queens will be looking at doing better than the Tokyo 2020 edition were they were eliminated in the first round of the competition.
2024 Olympics qualifier Final Round| Second leg
Full-Time
Morocco 0-2 Zambia (Aggregate 2-3)
(Barbra Banda 38', 105' pen)
And we back at the Olympics . Back to back qualification. 💪 pic.twitter.com/XeWPMuSg7c— Zambia WNT (@Copper_Queens) April 10, 2024
