FAZ president Andrew Kamanga and his wife hosted the Tokyo bound Copper Queens at the top of the market residence in Lusaka.
The FAZ boss hosted the victorious team as a token of appreciation for their qualification to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Coach Bruce Mwape and his technical bench struck a relaxed posture in the aftermath of the monumental fixture that earned them a ticket to Tokyo after bundling out the highly rated Indomitable Lionesses.
Kamanga said he had decided to hold a luncheon for the team to thank them for their historic feat that era
“My wife was gracious enough to accept to host us as a gift for Women’s Day. Just thought that we would give you a small token of appreciation in form of a meal. We just want to have lunch together and continue with our programs,” Kamanga said.
“I hope we will continue building on our fellowship as we look to go to the next challenge which is the Olympics.”
And team captain Barbara Banda thanked Kamanga and his wife for the random gesture towards the team.
“On behalf of the team, we want to thank the president and his wife for this gesture. We really appreciate the effort,” said the Shanghai FC star striker.
“We also wish to thank everyone for yesterday’s game, we really enjoyed the support from everyone. We showed our commitment and delivered the results which everyone was expecting.”
The players then roamed about freely within the airy surroundings as they still come to terms with their dream qualification.
It was also a photo opportunity for a handful of guests, FAZ secretariat staff and media personnel to get up-close with the team.
Zambia qualified to the Tokyo Olympics after having beaten Cameroon 2-1 at home to overcome a 3-2 away loss in Yaoundé courtesy of away goals rule.
It is the first time Zambia will have a female football team at the Olympics and the first time in 32 years the country will be represented in the football category.
The last time a Zambian football team qualified to the Olympics was in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics.
