By Kalumiana Kalumiana
Ex-Chipolopolo defender Elijah Tana has paid tribute to late former Zambia women’s national team coach Bruce Mwape who passed away yesterday.
The late Mwape coached Tana at Nchanga Rangers in the 1990s when he was an assistant coach at the Chingola club.
Mwape, 67, died on Thursday at Nchanga South Mine Hospital in Chingola, where he had been admitted a week ago after suffering a stroke.
Tana won the 1998 FAZ Super League title with Mwape who was then Nchanga’s assistant coach to the late Fordson Kabole.
In an interview yesterday, Tana said Mwape’s contribution to football will always be remembered.
“It is very sad to hear that our big man and mentor has gone. He made us what we are today, from first players and later coaches,” Tana said.
“My condolences to the family, and we want to thank them for giving us a great coach.”
Also paying his tribute was ex-Nchanga team manager Patrick Nkhata, who was part of the Kabole and Mwape technical bench at the Chingola club.
“When I retired as a player, Bruce took over my position at Nchanga as a winger. I later also worked with him as a coach,” Nkhata said.
“He had done a lot for the club and was a good footballer to start with and then also a good coach.”
Mwape was later reunited with Kabole at Power Dynamos briefly in 2009.
Mwape also coached Konkola Mine Police and Roan United.
But his greatest moments came with the women’s national team qualifying them for the 2018, 2022 and 2025 WAFCONs during his six years as coach.
Mwape was the first coach to guide Zambia out of the WAFCON group stages to the knockout round when the team finished third at the 2022 WAFCON.
That achievement saw Zambia qualify for their debut FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.
Mwape also qualified Zambia for unprecedented back-to-back Olympic women’s football tournaments at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
