Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
HERENTALS Queens have every reason to believe as long as they can play their own part in their final CAF Women’s Champions League COSAFA qualifier group match on Wednesday.
The Zimbabwe champions are delicately poised after losing their Group C opener against Mozambique’s Costa do Sol in the ongoing regional eliminator in Johannesburg, South Africa on Saturday.
Only winners in their three-team group are guaranteed to progress to the semi-finals with the second-best runners-up across the three pools joining in.
After losing 2-0 to Costa do Sol, “Vagoni Vebasa” are now praying the Mozambicans lose to the other team in the group, Olympic de Moroni this afternoon.
That will give the Irene Mwanza girls a chance to top the group as long as they score goals and win against Moroni on Wednesday.
Still, Herentals Queens can progress to the semi-finals as the best second placed team across the pools with a comprehensive win over Olympic de Moroni even if the latter loses today.
But how?
According to COSAFA, “the best second position will be determined from the teams finishing second in each group and according to the following criteria, in the order given below:
“Higher number of points the teams concerned obtained in the group matches, superior goal difference the teams concerned had in the Group matches, higher number of goals the teams concerned scored in group matches, fair play conduct of the teams concerned in terms of yellow or red cards accumulated in Group matches.”
And when determining the best second placed team, the following procedure will apply:
“For group A, which has four teams, the relative positions of all four teams will first be determined according to Article 5 ii above. Then the results of the team finishing in the fourth position will be discarded, and the determination of positions will be done again, considering only the results of the matches between the remaining three teams. Once again, the procedure in Article 5 ii will be used to determine the final positions.”
And Mwanza believes Herentals Queens will find a way to bulldoze to the semis.
“I am still very much positive about our prospects,” said Mwanza.
“We lapsed in our opener, but we will regroup and be able to beat Moroni on Wednesday.
“The girls are now very much composed and I know they will deliver.”
