The return of versatile Helen Chanda…As she makes Olympics bound squad
By Moses Mwanza | July 2, 2021
Red Arrows Women Football Club versatile player Hellen ‘Soldier’ Chanda Simbuwa returns to the National Team set up after missing out for over a year.
Chanda has been included in a 22 member squad that is expected to compete at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympics to be staged in Japan from July 23 – August 8 with other sporting activities expected to start earlier.
The last time Chanda played for Zambia was in 2019 at the COSAFA Championship in South Africa where the Copper Queens minted Silver after they came out second losing to South Africa 1-0 in the final.
Chanda is one of the versatile players who can easily adapt. She can play as a defender, defensive midfielder, midfielder, and striker and she is a strong pillar in the team, she brings so much experience because she has been consistent since 2014 when she was part of the Women’s Under-17 team at their maiden World Cup appearance that was hosted by Costa Rica.
Hellen Chanda Simbuwa put up an excellent shift at the 2018 COSAFA Women’s Championship in South Africa when Zambia silenced Mozambique 3-0 and she was voted as the player of the match in that game.
In the same year 2018, she went on to feature at the African Women’s Championship in Ghana with the Copper Queens who unfortunately bowed out in the first round where they managed to collect 4 points from 3 games and third in the group beating Equatorial Guinea 5-0 before losing 4-0 to Nigeria and settling for a 1-1 draw against South Africa in their final group match.
The Air Ladies utility player will be hoping to fit in the shoes left by Indeni Roses’ Rhoda Chileshe who was nursing an injury for quite some time and is missing in the team traveling to the Olympics.
HELLEN CHANDA’S QUICK FILE
Name: Hellen Chanda Simbuwa
Age: 23
Club: Red Arrows Women Football Club.
Tournaments
2014 – Under-17 World Cup, Costa Rica.
2017 – COSAFA Senior Women’s Championship, Zimbabwe
2018 – COSAFA Senior Women’s Championship, South Africa.
2018 – African Women’s Championship (AWCON), Ghana
2019 COSAFA Women’s Championship, South Africa
The Copper Queens are in Group F alongside China, Brazil, and the Netherlands at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympics to be staged in 20 days in Japan.
The Coach Bruce Mwape’s drilled lasses will start their Olympic journey with a date against the Netherlands on 21st July 2021 at 13:00hrs before taking on China PR 3 days later in an early kick-off at 10:00hrs with both matches slated for Miyagi Stadium.
The African Queens will then wrap up their group match against the much-fancied Brazil on 27th July 2021 at Saitama Stadium with a lunchtime kick-off at 13:30hrs.