daniel chigunwe
Bruce Chikuni
Sports Reporter
THE Heart Cup is set to get underway today after all the 16 teams arrived and checked in at the Yadah Hotel yesterday.
The competition will run until Sunday when the champions will be crowned.
However, the eliminated teams will have the privilege of enjoying their stay until the end of the competition.
The knockout competition is being sponsored by the Heart Group of Companies, a brainchild of Prophet Walter Magaya.
All eyes are on Herentals Queens, who made a remarkable debut in the Women’s Champions League COSAFA qualifier in Malawi, where they finished third.
Herentals Queens CEO, Tafadzwa Benza, hailed Prophet Magaya for bailing out women’s football and told Zimpapers Sport that they could not have asked for a better time to play this tournament.
“We welcome the gesture, it will help all the clubs involved and increase competitiveness of the league,” said Benza. We drew valuable lessons from the experience (in Malawi), both administratively and technically.
“We’ve put our club in order, meeting all CAF standards, and our training methods have improved significantly.”
Benza praised his team’s performance in Malawi.
However, he acknowledged that the team’s inexperience in knockout competitions, and playing matches every two days, was quite challenging.
He felt Herentals Queens could have done better in Malawi had they played a knockout competition in the domestic league.
Benza is confident that Herentals Queens will do well in the Heart Cup.
“The experience gained in Malawi has made us stronger and more confident. We’re hungry to succeed, especially after missing out on winning the COSAFA tournament.
“The Heart tournament comes at the perfect time for Herentals Queens because our girls are still in the mood to win gold as they were very close in Malawi.
“And they are now fully aware of what a knockout tournament means since it is way different from a league match.”
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