The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
AFTER suffering a humbling 5-0 defeat by perennial rivals Zambia in the 2020 Olympics second round first leg qualifier, Zimbabwe’s Mighty Warriors need nothing short of a miracle at the National Sports Stadium today, if they are to rescue a campaign that has terribly gone off the rails.
The Mighty Warriors’ debut perfomance at the global sports showcase was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016.
Given the fact that matches between Zambia and Zimbabwe have a history of being closely contested, last Wednesday’s result from Lusaka came as a huge shock.
Mighty Warriors coach Sithethelelwe ‘Kwinji 15” Sibanda must now galvanize a team that is low on confidence to try and score at least five unanswered goals to force the game into a penalty lottery.
But so far, the former Zimbabwe international has not helped the Mighty Warriors’ cause. She put her faith in the old guard, which was outwitted by the youthful Zambians in the first leg.
lf her charges are to proceed to the next round of the qualifiers, they will need to overturn the score line. However, this seems highly unlikely.
Maybe Kwinji 15 needs to shift her focus and use the game as preparation for this year’s Africa Women Cup of Nations, which is slated for later this year.
But Sibanda defended her selection of the old players that have been on rotation over the years.
Players like Majory Nyaumwe, Talent Mandaza, Nobhule Majika, and Felistas Muzongondi are already in their 30s, while several others are in their late 20s.
lt has been more than a decade since some of these names were introduced to the squad.
The Zimbabwean team has been operating more like a club instead of a national team, with some players always guaranteed places, irrespective of their form.
However, Sibanda blamed their poor perfomance on inadequate preparations and resources.
While Zifa should take some flak for the raw deals they often give the mighty Warriors, Sibanda does not seem to have used the Cosafa Cup last month to do her homework on She-polopolo.
On the other hand, the Zambians seem to have noted all the Mighty Warriors’ weaknesses, before going on to take advantage of them.
“There is not much change that can happen in one day. We only had one training session yesterday. Friday was a recovery session.
“The team needs to train and gradually build up to the game, especially if we want to fuse in new players. We need more time since we do not have much international exposure. Football is a game of training and preparation,” Sibanda said.
Turning to today’s match, Sibanda said her charges need to take advantage of being at their home ground and dominate the game.
In the match they lost, the Mighty Warriors held their Northern rivals in the first half, before returning to concede five goals after the breather in a clear show of lack of physical fitness.
“We just went straight into the game so coming from the rest, it was a high load. Hence, some players suffered injuries, especially hamstrings.
“We need to manage the game today. Obviously, our fitness levels have not changed in a day, we have to play the game cautiously to manage our energy levels,” Sibanda said.
Danai Bhobho and Lynette Mutokuto have been pulled out due to injuries.
Sibanda insisted that preparations need to improve for the team’s next major assignment.
If the Mighty Warriors are to overpower She-polopolo, they will meet either Botswana or South Africa in the next round.
