Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Sports Reporter
MIGHTY Warriors coach Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda expects her troops to turn on the show but warned they need to always look over their shoulder when they play Angola in a 2026 AWCON qualifier in Luanda this afternoon.
Zimbabwe are seeking to secure qualification for the continental showpiece for the first time since 2016. But they need to first clear the Angola hurdle in a two-legged fixture whose return will be staged at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria next week.
They will then need to find a way past Malawi in the final qualification round.
Sibanda said Zimbabwe needed to fully concentrate and get a result to carry to South Africa.
“We have done a lot of groundwork to really get to the required standard in order to perform well,” said Sibanda.
“The response has been quite overwhelming starting from back home when we had the local-based players as we started camp early.
“And, when we arrived here, the foreign-based contingent joined in. We don’t have any challenge in terms of integrating the players. Danai (Bhobho) and Emmaculate (Msipa) have played together before and Rue (Ruvimbo Mucherera) has also been with the team when we were still home.
“Yolanda (Kanyai) has also blended in well. Basically, the team is ready and there is a lot of teamwork. We are expecting to have a good game.”
Although Zimbabwe have in the past not found it any difficult to beat the Palancas Negras, having thrashed them 4-1 in their last game, a COSAFA match played in South Africa in 2019, Sibanda doesn’t want the Mighty Warriors to dwell much into that.
“We have played Angola before and they are a very athletic team so we need to be really in our best defensive shape in terms of our organisation at the back,” she added.
“Going forward, I know that we have got a lot of man-power, a lot of arsenal going forward as a team. We are also very strong defensively and in midfield.
“I think our team is very balanced but obviously it’s been a long time since we played Angola.
“So, we don’t have to consider history going into this game. They have been together and we don’t know what they have been doing. We know all the nations across the continent have been improving.
“So we are expecting a really tough game and worse they will be backed by their supporters but we will stay true to our tactics right from the back going forward.”
