Coach of Equatorial Guinea's female senior team, Jean-Paul Mpila says his side's 5-0 humiliation at the hands of Zambia was due top CAF's delay in reinstating them to the AWCON.
Equatorial Guinea were initially withdrawn from the competition for allegedly fielding an eligible player during the qualifiers against Kenya but had to be reinstated after CAF, through it's disciplinary committee reviewed an appeal from the Nzalang Nacional.
"I must say I am not downhearted for the loss today. I will also admit that our problem with CAF (disciplinary ruling) prior to the tournament affected us one way or the other," Mpila said after the game.
"I made sure to make the team ready for the game by 95%. We worked as a team for that."
"Finally, I will congratulate the coach of Zambia for this hard work and he deserves it. I accept the defeat."
Equatorial Guinea will next face South Africa, who defeated Nigeria in their opening game.