All-Africa games draw out

they take on neighbours South Africa, Ghana and Tanzania at the All-Africa Games from September 3 to 18 in Maputo, Mozambique.
Following a draw, which was conducted at the Caf headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday by Caf secretary-general Hicham El Amrani in the presence of president Issa Hayatou and representatives of the qualified teams, South Africa and hosts Mozambique went into the hat as top seeds.
By virtue of finishing second at the previous edition in Algeria, Banyana Banyana will lead Group B after two-time champions Nigeria failed to qualify for this year’s tournament.
Zimbabwe has only competed once at the quadrennial games, featuring at the first tournament for women, which was by invitation. Group A has hosts Mozambique, West African countries Guinea and Cameroon as well as North Africans Algeria.
The hosts also participated at the just-ended Cosafa Championships and were in the same group with the Mighty Warriors but failed to progress after only managing a 1-1 draw with Malawi and losing 3-0 to the Mighty Warriors.
Algeria finished fourth at the previous edition they hosted and have also featured prominently at the African Women Championships.
While the Mighty Warriors have a tough task at the Games, the Young Warriors, who missed out a place at the multi-sport event after losing 2-1 to South Africa on aggregate ,would have been pooled in the easy group A.
The men’s group A has hosts Mozambique, South Africa, Libya and Madagascar.
Yesterday, the Mighty Warriors gaffer, who guided her team to their first Cosafa Women Championship victory, said it is good to be pitted against African heavyweights.
“As I said after the Cosafa tournament, going to All-Africa Games is a different stage and tournament.
“The good part is we have played at least two of the teams and we know their strengths and weaknesses but it is a group of death and there would be a lot of fireworks.
‘Tanzania and South Africa would be out to revenge. We have to be at our best and need to be prepared physically and mentally.
“Ghana is a good side, they have won something before, and they have the experience of playing in Africa, so it would be tough.
“We are not under pressure as we are rebuilding. We are going into the tournament as underdogs but we will prove ourselves,” said Mugadza.
The former skipper said the Maputo Games would also help the team to prepare for the 2012 African Women Championships.
“Next year there is Afcon so it’s a good grand stand for us to measure what we have been doing because we want to qualify for the prestigious tournament.
“And really I couldn’t have wished for any other opponents.
“I am happy that the association has organised a training camp for us in Germany and this has come at the right time just before the Games.
“Germany have won the World Cup three times and have a strong league so the camp should help us a lot,” said Mugadza.
Meanwhile, Zifa Women’s soccer boss Mavis Gumbo left for Germany yesterday afternoon to attend a three-day Fifa women’s football symposium in Frankfurt.
The participants will also have a chance to watch the Fifa Women’s World Cup finals on Sunday.
“All the countries would be sharing experiences with representatives from Ghana and Jordan expected to make presentations. I hope we will learn a lot which should go a long way in developing our football,” said Gumbo.
Turning to the All-Africa Games draw, Gumbo said the board would give the team all the support in their bid to do well in Maputo.
“We don’t have to take chances and have to work extra hard from now until September. We will take advantage of the Germany trip next week and maximise on that.
“And when the team returns home we will not really rest until we leave for Maputo. We will try and support the girls all the way as we have been doing. At least we won’t be surprised by some of our opponents and hosting the Cosafa tournament and playing some of the teams might prove to be a blessing in disguise,” said Gumbo.
Main Draw
Men
Group A: Mozambique, South Africa, Libya, Madagascar.
Group B: Cameroon, Uganda, Ghana, Senegal.
Women
Group A: Mozambique, Cameroon, Guinea, Algeria.
Group B: South Africa, Tanzania, Ghana, Zimbabwe.