Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze, Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE senior women’s football team, the Mighty Warriors, overcame their final Cosafa Group B hurdle with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Botswana to secure a spot in the ongoing tournament’s semifinals.
An all-important Rutendo Makore’s second-half goal was all Zimbabwe needed to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament as the best overall runner-up.
Only the top three teams from the groups qualified automatically for the semi-finals, with the Mighty Warriors joining them as the best runner-up after recording two wins and a draw in their group.
They ended up with seven points, joint with group favourites Zambia, although with an inferior goal difference.
Deputy Minister of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture Emily Jesaya, who attended the Mighty Warriors’ latest two games, congratulated the team, citing that they have raised the national flag high.
“I want to say congratulations to you on behalf of Zimbabwe. We are proud of the standards you have set as women’s football in the country. You have shown the world what you are capable of doing and the vast talent that is in the country,” she said.
“Your resilience is impressive because, against the odds, you still go about and play your hearts out, and this is what I admire most about you.
“From you, I have learnt that teamwork can take us far, we win and lose together and also the way that you respect each other in camp was outstanding for me for the three days that I have spent with you.”
Head Coach Sithethelelwe Sibanda, who had at the start of the tournament expressed worry over the team’s fitness and conditioning levels, was impressed with her charges’ performance in the campaign.
“I am very impressed with the record we have set for ourselves; it may not be as outstanding, but coming from off-season to stage such competition against teams that are way past mid-season is magnificent,” she said.
“We never had preseason, but you can see that with each game, the girls are improving quite well, and this is what we needed from the onset, so we did not have room and time to relax.”
The match was a balanced affair from the onset, with Botswana staging a surprisingly strong show following their documented struggles in the side’s two opening games in which they only managed a solitary point.
However, while the Mighty Warriors attack led by Ethel Chinyerere were on the backfoot, early changes by the gaffer, introducing Makore and Bethel Kondo, changed the complexion of the game.
Makore brought expertise upfront, relieving Chinyerere of the pressure while Kondo stabilised the midfield.
The Mighty Warriors won countless corner kicks and some set pieces, although they could not find goals to match that.
Meanwhile, Botswana, on countless times, found spaces in Zimbabwe’s defence, but they failed to put any of them to good use as goalkeeper Cynthia Shonga was on her toes to restrict them until the two went to half-time with a 0-0 scoreline.
Returning from the breather, Botswana wanted to use pace in their game to outclass Zimbabwe but with experience in their team, the Mighty Warriors would not allow the opponent to bully them.
Makore was to break the deadlock in 80 minutes with a close-range header.
The Zimbabwean goalie was again highly impressive as she recorded three saves in the game, after parrying the ball overbar in what could have been a massive blow for Zimbabwe had they conceded.
Shonga’s record takes Zimbabwe’s clean sheets tally to three in three games and hers to two in as many games after sitting out in the Mighty Warriors’ first game of the tournament, against Eswatini.
Captain Nobukhosi Ncube had to stamp authority in the defensive end to keep her backline staff on their toes in the supercharged clash.
In the end, Egness Tumbare was crowned Player of the Match for her contributions on the defensive end as she fought to keep Botswana attackers at bay.
“It was not an easy game at all. We started well, but then we missed a lot of chances, allowing them to come to the party, and after that, we were then under pressure, one-directional,” she said.
Sibanda believes that her side could have buried the opponents in the first half had they utilised the chances they created.
However, she acknowledges that the Mighty Warriors surpassed expectations by shrugging off competition from fully fit sides to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament.
“I am glad that even the pool of players we had did justice to the game. We rotated the players just to save legs, and everyone who got a chance really played their heart out to represent the nation.
“Our pool was not an easy one; each team came with a different kind of competition, and just like we did today (yesterday) against Botswana, we managed to weather all the storms up to the semis.”
Zimbabwe will face South Africa in what is expected to be an explosive semi-final at New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday.
