Zambia coach gunning for a victory against Venezuela in the FIFA U17 Women’s WC

The Copper Princesses lost 5-0 to Japan in their opening Group D match on Sunday. Speaking ahead of their clash against Venezuela, Kanyemba believes her players can bounce back from the heavy defeat.

"Venezuela's game – we know they also want a point. They lost to France, so they will be looking to get a point out of this. We are all looking to get a point out of this. We have been encouraging the girls. A defeat in the tournament is not the end – that was a setback, but it should be a setup for our comeback. We are working on that mentally and physically," said Kanyemba.

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Venezuela also did not start the global showpiece well, losing 2-0 to France.

Having made history by leading the Copper Princesses to their third consecutive FIFA U17 World Cup, Kayemba explains why she believes they lost to Japan and the lessons they have learnt.

"This is our first session after the defeat, and we appreciate the support we have received. We know that we lost the game, but there have been a few positives that we have picked up and many lessons we learned from it. One of them is compactness; I think we are marking in isolation, and that's why we are being displaced. So, we have been working on compactness ."

The Southern African side again made history by qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time in the 2025 edition, having exited the 2024 edition without securing any point.Kayemba says the three points will be very crucial tonight.