Langton Giwa warns Young Mighty Warriors

for success when he leads his charges against Mozambique in tomorrow’s Fifa World Cup qualifier at Rufaro.
But the Young Mighty Warriors coach has quickly warned his troops not underrate Mozambique in their first round, first leg tie.
The match kicks off at 3pm and Zifa, who have not been charging women’s soccer matches all along, have pegged US$1 for the cheapest ticket for this encounter, US$3 for Upper Grand while fans wishing to seat in the VIP section will have to fork out US$5.
While the hosts go into the match as the better ranked team and firm favourites to progress to the next round, Giwa said they are not treating their opponents lightly.
“We are not underrating them and we are treating just like big teams like Nigeria and we know they will put up a strong fight.
“We want to wrap-up the match tomorrow so that in the second leg it would be a walkover for us.
“The morale is high in camp and all the departments are looking sharp and if they carry the form they have been displaying at training then it would be a good match for us. We are urging the supporters to come in their numbers so that they see that we have some talented female players in this country,” said Giwa.
A lot of confidence has been exuding from the junior team and even the visiting Mozambicans coach Carlos Manuel noted that they have seen lot of support and advertising for the match and believes a big crowd may intimidate his side.
“Ever since we arrived we have seen a lot about the match on television and I can see that women’s football is supported here unlike in our country,” said Manuel.
Manuel, who is also the coach for Mozambique senior women’s team and was here with his side for last year’s Cosafa Championships, has brought four of the players that played the Mighty Warriors in the group stages of the Championships and lost 3-0.
“When you play away it is important not to lose and also important to score so that when you play at home you have a chance to perfect everything.
“We have a young team as we are rebuilding and they range from 16, 17 to 18 years.
“And if we lose we would not be worried because we are preparing a strong national team for the future. If we win it would be good for us to remain in this competition and probably play more games and give exposure for the young team,” said Manuel.
The former Ferroviaro player said they are familiar with their Zimbabwean opposition and have a hint of what to expect in tomorrow’s match.
“I know the Zimbabwe national team because we came here for the Cosafa tournament and played them and we were also together in Maputo for the All-Africa Games. I know they have good national team players and I know a bit of their style of play but we don’t know about their Under-20 team.
“We have played at Rufaro before and we are familiar with the artificial turf and also have a similar one back home and we are ready for the match.
“I have brought five senior players in captain Lucia Mozambique, Gisela Nhavane, Aurora Ngale, Albertina Pondja, who played at Cosafa, and Leonaro Manivo, who played at the All-Africa Games. They have experience and should guide the youngsters,” said Manuel.
The Young Mambas, who have been in camp for the past two weeks, played preparatory matches with local provincial select sides on Tuesday on their way to Zimbabwe played their last warm-up match with Chimoio Select in Chimoio.
“We didn’t play any international friendly matches prior to this game and the players based in the capital Maputo were the first to regroup before the players from the other provinces joined us two weeks ago and we were just playing matches against select sides,” Manuel said.
Mozambique women’s football is also coming from the doldrums following five years of inactivity and was not part of the proceedings in Swaziland when Zimbabwe won the gold medal in women’s soccer.
And tomorrow’s tie would be the first competitive match for Mozambique this year as their senior team did not feature in the African Women Championships qualifiers last month as they progressed without a kicking a ball after their opponents Kenya withdrew.
Former athlete Maria Mutola is the captain of the senior team and the Young Mambas would be hoping to draw the inspiration from the former queen of track and stun Zimbabwe in their own backyard.
Teams
Zimbabwe: Portia Mukucha, Danai Bhobho, Eunice Chibanda, Mavis Chirandu, Barbara Soko, Nomusa Bizecki, Faith Chasi, Elizabeth Chaparangana, Emmaculate Msipa, Rudo Neshamba, Rutendo Makore, Rufaro Machingura, Tafadzwa Tsunguro, Magaret Moyo, Rhodha Jongondi, Kudzai Chaparusha, Edith Timire, Nyasha Munemo.
Mozambique: Lucia Mozambique, Aurora Ngale, Alberina Pondja, Leonara Manivo, Laxmy Omar, Sitoe Angelica, Rosalia Titose, Tina Samuel, Silvino Maria, Estrella Cuta, Joana joaquina, Gisela Nhavane, Esperanca Francisco, Marlen Lidia, Delice Hassan, Laura Joaquim, Claudia Rufino, Cainara Jamal, Malache Filizarda, Mercia Muspanhola.