Zambia endured a hard day at the office yet again as they were handed another 5-0 defeat by Spain in the second match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup
Spain have confirmed their place in the last 16 of the tournament with that routine victory over the Copper Queens.
An excellent strike by Teresa Abelleira was followed by braces for both Jennifer Hermoso and Alba Redondo to seal a convincing win for the Europeans. The result means Zambia have been knocked out of the World Cup, Spain and Japan set for a winner-takes-all duel on 31 July at Wellington Regional Stadium to confirm who tops Group C.
Spain took control of the contest inside the first 10 minutes when the ball was rolled to Teresa Abelleira just outside of the area. The midfielder took one touch to set herself before thundering an unstoppable effort into the top-left corner which Zambia goalkeeper Eunice Sakala could only stand and watch.
La Roja’s free-flowing football continued to carve out openings and they would double their lead soon after as the excellent Alexia Putellas made a typically enterprising run into space down the left. The Barcelona superstar floated in an inch-perfect cross for Jennifer Hermoso to head home on her 100th cap.
Jorge Vilda made a trio of substitutions at half-time and it didn’t take long for one of those to make their mark, as Alba Redondo scampered clear from a long ball to round Sakala and tap into an empty net. Hermoso then added to the scoreline just a minute later, thrashing home her 50th international goal from close-range following a penalty box scramble.
The ever-impressive Redondo then latched on to an Eva Navarro cross to smash home her second goal from 12 yards out. The result means both Spain and Japan will take part in the knockout phase, while Zambia will join Costa Rica in exiting the tournament.
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