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Tadious Manyepo in BLANTYRE, Malawi
HERENTALS QUEENS coach Lazarus Magaya feels the Students have picked some key lessons over the past week, which will stand the club in good stead ahead of their football campaigns.
“Vagoni Vebasa”, as Herentals are affectionately known, mesmerised on debut before crashing out of the CAF Women’s Champions League COSAFA qualifiers following a 0-1 defeat to Gaborone United in the semi-final at Mpira Stadium in Malawi on Thursday.
But their overall play, characterised by an unmatched fighting spirit won them admiration from across the board.
Making their debut in this tournament, pundits never gave them a chance especially after they were placed in a tough Group A alongside former champions Green Buffaloes of Zambia and Namibia giants and regular campaigners FC Ongos.
But the Student Queens eased past FC Ongos via a commanding 3-1 victory before stunning Green Buffaloes 1-0 to all, but seal their last four berth with a game to spare in the group.
They would then lose 2-1 to South Africa’s University of Western Cape in their last group match on their way to progressing to the semi-finals as the Group A runners-up, missing out on the chance to face a relatively weaker team from the other group, which came in the form of Eswatini’s Young Buffaloes.
They clashed against Gaborone United in the last four and themselves to blame for being wasteful in front of goal.
And they paid dearly for fluffing their lines as the Botswana side sent them packing out of the tourney.
But Magaya has chosen to dwell on the positives.
He says his girls have picked up valuable football lessons which will mould them for the future.
“I think this semi-final feat is a victory in itself. Look at where we are coming from. Herentals Queens were the Zimbabwe champions in 2022 and were supposed to participate in the CAF Women’s Champions League COSAFA qualifiers last year.
“But we couldn’t because the country was under FIFA suspension. Had we participated last year, we obviously should have gotten key lessons, which we should have used to avoid the blunders that saw us being booted out of this one,” said Magaya.
“That means this year should have been our second participation and obviously we could have approached it differently with some experience.
“So, we have learnt a lot from this international tournament. From its organisation and fluency, we will never be the same again.
“I know in terms of competition and what has to be done in the field of play and outside it, we have picked a lot.
“We will approach all our games, whether local or international differently because we have learnt key lessons from the exposure we got in Malawi,” Magaya said. He reckoned that some of his rookies will now leave Malawi with invaluable experience garnered from the tournament.
“Some of our players had zero international experience and you know how valuable this tournament has been to us.
“We now want to win the local league and come back again.”
Besides the lessons, some of the Herentals Queens stars have attracted interest from different top-flight teams in the region.
Striker Maudy Mafuruse, who scored two goals as well as defenders Alice Moyo and Egness Tumbare are understood to be amongst three of the most sought-after players from Vagoni Vebasa.
That means Vagoni Vebasa could be on their way to cashing in on some of the assets with most of their players on long-term contracts with Herentals.
Women’s football has been on a rapid rise in most of the African countries, where it has also been attracting huge corporate support.
Online Reporter