By Patson Kawewe in Muscat, Oman
In their second Group B encounter on Wednesday, World Cup debutantes Zambia became one of the first teams to be knocked out after a 9-0 defeat to Ukraine.
Leonova Karyna scored four times, with Valeriia Rudychenko scoring a double while Movchan Veronika, Anna Tanchenko and Anastasia Shyshyna scored a goal each.
Leonova Karyna settled any opening nerves with the fastest goal of the tournament when she picked up the ball after an intricate passing move in the first minute and fired a shot from long range that rocketed into the Zambian goal.
The second consecutive loss means Zambia will now play their last Group match tomorrow against the World’s second ranked team Australia who have also been knocked out after suffering their second defeat.
Speaking to the media after the game, Golden Girls Coach Floyd Chomba expressed disappointment after the teams inability to utilize all the clear chances they had.
“I must confess that I am so disappointed with this second loss, I assumed we had settled the nerves after the South Africa game but unfortunately we came back worse against Ukraine, We gave them so much respect and we could not utilize our chances and that is how we have been punished.
We will approach tomorrow’s game against Australia with all the importance it deserves so that we can finish the Group stages on a positive not as we go into the Challenger’s Cup,” he said.
The eight teams that will not qualify for the Quarter Finals will drop into the Challenger’s Cup to determine how the teams will rank at the end of the tournament.
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