Zambia coach Bruce Mwape feels his side were improved on Wednesday despite their 5-0 loss to Spain in a Women’s World Cup Group C clash that eliminated the Copper Queens from the competition.

Zambia have a game to come against Costa Rica on Monday but cannot advance to the round of 16 having lost both their matches 5-0 to Japan and now the Spanish.

Despite the comprehensive nature of the latest defeat in Auckland, Mwape feels there were signs of improvement from his side.

“Our performance was not all that bad, despite losing by a big margin,” he told reporters. “Looking at the last game (against Japan) and today, there has been an improvement. We just made a few mistakes in the first half where we did not start well and allowed two goals.

“In the second half towards the end, that’s where we also made some mistakes, but the game overall was better than against Japan.”

Mwape felt Spain were able to capitalise by isolating his defenders.

“In one v one situations they took advantage as they could eliminated our defenders. Playing the best teams in the world is not easy, but we have learned a lot.

“Especially when it comes to offensive play, we have seen how our opponents are holding onto possession of the ball and the tactics they are using.

“Going forward we will improve on those tactics we have,” the coach said.

Zambia have a chance to leave their debut World Cup with their heads held high against the Costa Ricans, who lost their opening two games 3-0 to Spain and 2-0 to Japan.