Four years and nine days later but still the same old Milika Limwanya

By Moses Pedro Mwanza | October 1, 2021

Exactly 1470 days since her last Copper Queens appearance, midfielder Milika Limwanya yesterday took to the field as the Zambia Women’s national team beat Eswatini 5-0 in their opening match of the 2021 COSAFA Women’s Championship.

The last time she was on the pitch for the nation Zambia suffered a heartbreaking 5-3 penalty shootouts loss to South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in the semifinal of the 2017 COSAFA Women’s Championship.

Four years and nine days later the Red Arrows defensive kingpin was back on the pitch with the Copper Queens donning national colors and was really equal to the tasks.

In the first half, Zambia played deep in their half with a good interchange of passes, Limwanya was excellent in her typical defensive role in the midfield demanding possession and distributing it around throughout her time on the pitch and she also did a lot of donkey works for the team.

Limwanya who is nicknamed after the Ivorian and former Barcelona and Manchester City Midfielder Yaya Toure because of her height and style of play returned to the National Team set up in a competitive match in yesterday’s 5-0 victory over Eswatini after missing out in the squad for 4 years and she gave a good account for herself.

Zambia U-20 Women’s national team graduate Ochumba Oseke Lubanji stole the limelight as she netted a hat-trick to lead the Copper Queens to an emphatic 5-0 win over Sitsebe Samhlekazi.

Zambia’s next match is against Namibia on 3 October at 15:30hours while Eswatini will face Uganda in the early kick-off.