RACHEAL Kundananji says the Copper Queens defeat to Australia on Sunday evening hurt more than a heartbreak because the team was so close to victory.
Kundananji says the coach’s plan was working but players lost concentration midway through game, allowing the Matildas to take advantage.
The Copper Queens gave up a 5-2 lead to lose 6-5 against the Matildas at the Olympic Games last Sunday.
Speaking to FAZ media yesterday, Kundananji said the rest of the Queens needed to help out in defending for the team to be winning crucial matches.
“I would say this is more than a heartbreak because we saw three points coming to Zambia and then it just went like that, even not getting a one. We just got a zero from it, like it’s so painful. That has told us that we need to work on some things like defensively, we need to work together and make up those mistakes which we made because I can’t say this is for defenders, I’ll say this is for the entire team. If we defended as a team it could have helped, I won’t say defenders because defenders also needed help,” she said.
Kundananji said the Copper Queens lost concentration and gave up the game.
“I feel like we went well in the game starting from the first half. What we were told to do when pressing and we have a chance on attack, which we did, and I feel like we just lost concentration. That’s why we conceded a lot of goals whereby the game we were winning, we just like gave it out. The game is now the past, like we can never go back in that game. All I’m urging to my fellow players, we need to focus on the next game which we have, and we still have another game to get three points which we can get if we just like work on our mistakes and have the confidence that we usually have because I feel like in this game, we lost confidence and they used that against us,” she said.
The striker explained her thought process moments before she scored her first goal of the evening.
“When Barbra scored the first goal I was motivated because I saw like what we were told is working, and I got the ball and the only thing that came into my mind was like, yeah there is Barbra here but I can fake as if I’m passing and then I just try to take it, which I did and it worked. You know it worked out, I was just trying to do that because we were told to do that, which I did and it worked, which I was happy and I was like yeah,” Kundananji said.
The striker recognised Zambia’s defensive shortcomings, which she said were the responsibility of the entire team.
“Imagine scoring five goals from our plan, like the plan they’re giving us is working so we need now to bring ourselves together like defensive wise as a team so that we win a lot of matches because we can. How can we explain from [leading] 5-2 to losing? Like conceding four good goal in the second half, which is not making sense so we need to like, as a team, we need to work on those mistakes because the coaches have already done their job. They did their part, they told us everything which we are suppose to do and we just needed to do that,” she said.
Kundananji revealed that she had doubts about controlling the ball in the play that secured her brace on the night.
“You know, I was thinking she is passing Esther so I was just like waiting for the second ball, and then she made a cross which I wasn’t sure I’ll find that ball but you know, seeing the ball here coming, like I’m alone, no one is trying to like stop me or anything, I just need to go for it,” she said.
The winger asked fans to give the team a hand to hold on to as it needed to pick itself up before facing Germany its final Group B match.
“They shouldn’t just give up on us so easily, this is the time we need that support they give us when we win because we need support also. We never wanted to lose, we wanted to win. They saw how we’ve been fighting in these two games because we also want to win. That’s why they should support us because if we lose and then they give up on us, they start like making us feel bad, it will be very difficult for us to calm down. We need a hand to hold on to get up so they shouldn’t give up on us so easily,” said Kundananji.
