Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
SMARTING from a 1-0 defeat that they suffered at the hands of Mozambique on Thursday, the Mighty Warriors will today take on Lesotho in their second match of the ongoing 2024 Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup Championship that is being hosted in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The match between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, was a repeat of last year’s third-place play-off clash that saw Aurora Ngale grab the all-important goal of the match to separate the two antagonists.
Ironically, it was Mozambique who denied the Mighty Warriors a spot on the podium in Gauteng. The Mighty Warriors are under the guidance of Sithethelelwe “Kwinji15” Sibanda who is assisted by Primrose Serima and Onai Chingawo.
Debra Green is the team manager and Margaret Maulana is the team doctor. Zimbabwe were drawn in Group D with Mozambique and Lesotho.
Speaking ahead of today’s match, Sibanda, a veteran of a plethora of Mighty Warriors battles said: “We basically had a good game against Mozambique. We just conceded a silly goal and we created chances but failed to convert.
“It’s all about getting points but it was unfortunate that we lost. It’s now a bit difficult because we are not going to play more games to pick up points because at the end of the day when it comes to playing tournaments, it’s all about picking up points.
We struggled with our finishing and lacked composure upfront. It is now going to be difficult to play against Lesotho,” said Sibanda.
Recent heavy rains in the Eastern Cape forced venue changes for the tournament. The opening Group A matches were played at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, where South Africa beat Namibia 1-0 and Eswatini thrashed Seychelles 6-0.
Eswatini’s Tenanile Ngcamphalala scored the tournament’s first hat-trick, with captain Celiwe Nkambule netting two goals and Nokuthula Ndlovu adding one.
Zambia handed themselves an excellent chance to qualify for the knockout phase, they thumped Angola 3-0 in the opening match of Group C at Isaac Wolfson Stadium on Thursday.
Ochumba Lubandji, Lungowe Namasiku and Regina Chanda were on the score sheet for 2022 champions. The semi-finals and final remain at Isaac Wolfson Stadium on 31 October and 2 November.
The group winners and best-placed runner-up from Groups A, B and C will qualify for the semi-finals. South Africa has won seven of the previous 11 Cosafa Women’s Championships. Zimbabwe (2011), Tanzania (2021) and Zambia (2022) also lifted the trophy. Cosafa will expand Video Assistant Referee (VAR) usage to nine fixtures, including the final round of group games.
Mighty Warriors Squad:
Goalkeepers: Vanessa Lunga, Cynthia Shonga, Precious Mudyiwa
Defenders: Egness Tumbare, Purity Mugayi, Shelila Antonio, Nobukhosi Ncube, Alice Moyo
Midfielders: Morelife Nyagumbo, Ennety Chenhere, Kaitano, Peacemore Kenende, Natasha Ndowa, Shyline DambaMuromo, Nadia Semba, Edeline Mutumbami, Tanyaradzwa Chihoro, Patience Ndlovu
Forwards: Ethel Chinyerere, Maudy Mafuruse, Priviledge Mupeti, Christabel Katona, Mitshell John. — @FungaiMuderere