Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze in POLOKWANE, South Africa
AFTER firing early warning shots of their attacking prowess against Eswatini in their opening COSAFA Women’s Championship, the Mighty Warriors coach Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda wants her charges to keep their eyes on the prize.
A former player herself, Sibanda says she is alive to the lapse in concentration and potential loss of form that come with over excitement after a win, in a tournament.
The Zimbabwe senior women’s football team collected maximum points after a 2-0 victory in their opening Group B match at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Thursday afternoon.
They found the important through Praynance Zvawanda and Zimbabwe Women Premiership 2025 Golden Boot winner Rutendo Makore in the 38th and 55th minutes respectively.
With only the leading teams in the pools and the overall best runner-up meant to progress into the semi-finals in the tournament, Sibanda is leaving nothing to chance.
She has called on her players to continue focusing on the upcoming games against Zambia tomorrow and Botswana next week.
“The game against Eswatini is gone and we will take each game at a time. Obviously, we will focus on the Zambia match and make sure that we do well.
“We will be looking at our opponents and it will be a different match, a different fixture and we will approach it with a different style of play, so we need to be well prepared.
“We are looking forward to the match and we just need to maintain the confidence and continue with the fine form. We need to psych up and not let the win get into our heads and that will help the girls do better.”
The Mighty Warriors play the tournament favourites Zambia at Seshego Stadium tomorrow with kick-off pencilled for 3pm.
In what is expected to be Zimbabwe’s biggest task in the opening round of games, Sibanda will be looking to collect maximum points from the defending champions and edge closer to completing the group race at the top and secure their future in the tournament.
And after handing three rookies their full debuts for the senior team in the opening game, the coach, who was charmed with the youngsters’ performance in the first game, wants them to do more.
Bethel Kondo, Anita Ncube and Macgirl Sipini played a key role in the team’s overall show giving “Kwinji 15” confidence in her future Mighty Warriors project.
Kondo and Sipini were in the starting line-up, while Ncube was added as a substitute in the second half.
“The most important thing is to try and win as many matches as we can. So, at the end of the day, we wanted to give our young ones some exposure,” she said.
“I think with three, all went well, I think they had a good game, and they started off very well.
“We would want everyone to get that experience so that we have a huge pool of players choose from when it comes to the matches that we play in the future.”
The women’s national team will play their final Group B match against Botswana on February 24 at Seshego Stadium, with kick-off set for noon.
