Zambia striker Kundananji looking forward to Dutch friendly

Zambia Striker Rachel Kundananji says next week’s friendly against The Netherlands is a fantastic starting point for their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup countdown.

The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup runners-up will host Zambia on October 6 in Breda as part of the two team’s preparations for next year’s tournament.

Australia and New Zealand will co-host the FIFA Women’s World Cup from July 20- August 20.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup draws will be made on October 22 in Auckland, New Zealand.

“This is a great move, as you can see; this is all because of our World Cup qualification,” Kundananji said, who plays for Spanish club Madrid CFF.

“It is not going to be easy because we will be playing against the world’s best players when we go there.

“This is great news as we start with our first friendly against The Netherlands.”

Kundananji added that she is also looking forward to facing The Dutch once more after their July 2021 meeting at the delayed 2020 Olympics in Japan.

The Netherlands beat Zambia 10-3 in the two sides’ opening Group F match.

But Kundananji believes Zambia has made great strides since that defeat following notable exploits in 2022.

Zambia completed two milestones this year when they finished third at the 2022 Women’s AFCON in July for the first time and later lifted their debut COSAFA Women’s Cup title in early September.

“We are looking forward to the team beating The Netherlands so that when we go to the World Cup, we can go there and do something special,” Kundananji said.

And Kundananji returns to the fold for the first time since October 2021 in a 2022 WAFCON first-round qualifier against Malawi.

Kundananji scored a brace in her last international outing against Malawi in a 3-2 final leg win to see Zambia advance to the final qualifying stage 4-3 on aggregate.

She later failed to make the final cut for the 2022 WAFON team due to medical reasons.

Kundananji is one of three high-profile recalls in Bruce Mwape’s provisional 32-member for Dutch friendly.

Others are fellow Spanish-based striker Rachel Nachula of Zaragoza CFF and midfielder Prisca Chilufya from Kazakhstan club FC Tomiris Turan.