Online ReporterVeronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
NEW Mighty Warriors coach Stella Gotal has been handed four years to rebuild Zimbabwean women’s football, but the Croatian has only weeks before her first major test in an Olympic qualifier against Malawi.
The 33-year-old UEFA Pro Licence holder was unveiled in Harare yesterday, becoming the first foreign coach to be appointed on a substantive basis to lead the senior women’s national team.
She will be assisted by Arthur Gorejena.
Gotal arrives at a time when ZIFA are trying to rebuild a women’s programme that once produced COSAFA champions and an Olympic team, but has since fallen behind some of its regional rivals.
And while her contract gives her time to build, the results will start counting almost immediately.
“I am more than delighted to be part of the Zimbabwe national team set-up. I respect the appointment, and I am also aware that it comes with a lot of responsibility,” said Gotal.
“I understand the history that the national team carries and have an idea of the potential that Zimbabwe has, but I also understand that I have a lot to learn here, including the culture, environment and more.”
Her first task will be to assemble and prepare the Mighty Warriors for their second-round Los Angeles 2028 Olympic qualifier against Malawi.
The two-legged tie is scheduled for between October 5 and 13, with Malawi hosting the first leg.
Gotal insists the rebuilding project cannot be judged on one result.
“We are a team now. All of us want to win; this is our ambition, but we also need to know that one result will not change anything,” she said.
“Rather, it is development that brings changes, and development is a long-term process that also demands time-lines, principles and patience.”
Zimbabwe’s decline shows the size of the job Gotal has inherited.
In 2011, the Mighty Warriors won the COSAFA Women’s Championship after beating South Africa 1-0 in the final in Harare, with the late Rufaro Machingura scoring the winner.
Five years later, they made history by qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after defeating Cameroon in the qualifiers.
Zimbabwe also competed at the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations and the All-Africa Games during a period when the national side ranked among the strongest teams in the region.
That standing has since slipped.
Club results raise another concern.
Herentals have dominated the Zimbabwe Women’s Premier Soccer League, winning four successive championships, but have struggled to translate that domestic dominance onto the regional stage.
They opened their CAF Women’s Champions League COSAFA qualifier campaign in Botswana yesterday with a 5-2 defeat to Zambian champions ZESCO United Ndola Girls.
Herentals also failed to progress beyond the group stage last year, having reached the semi-finals in 2024.
Their struggles outside Zimbabwe raise fresh questions about the standard of the domestic league from which Gotal must build her national team. ZIFA have also reshaped the women’s national-team structures beneath the Mighty Warriors as part of the pro-posed development pathway. Former Mighty Warriors captain and coach Rosemary Mugadza returns to the national set-up as head coach of the Under-20 side, assisted by Naison Muchekela.
Jatson Maphosa takes charge of the Under-17s, with Thubelihle Sibanda as his assistant, while Irene Mwanza heads the Under-15 girls’ team alongside Jacob Chavungana.
Gotal believes those teams cannot operate as separate entities if Zimbabwe are to produce another generation capable of competing at the highest level.
“We are looking at this from the players’ position, starting from grassroots, creating the pipeline from the Under-15s, Under-17s and through to the senior team,” she said.
“We have to work together and come up with a clear structure and notable pathways because, overall, this is where success comes from.”
The contract runs for four years.
The first test comes against Malawi in October.
