Online Reporter
Sports Reporter
Angola. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2
Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 1
THE Mighty Warriors dragged themselves into a hole after suffering a shock defeat in the first leg of the penultimate 2026 AWCON qualifying round in Luanda yesterday.
Zimbabwe are now on the back foot and will have to find a way to beat the Palancas Negras in the second leg scheduled for the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, next week.
Winners of this fixture will face Malawi with the winners of that game advancing to the AWCON finals scheduled for Morocco next year.
It’s a disappointing start for the new ZIFA leadership who came into office last month.
The new ZIFA board have done a lot of work to motivate the Mighty Warriors, including giving them training allowances and creating a good environment for the team to succeed.
They conceded the first goal from double-scorer Aminda Lopes Papel right from kick-off with hardly 20 seconds on the clock.
A diagonal pass from the centre circle caught Nobukhosi Ncube unaware and a lofted cross from the channel skipped over Zimbabwe’s centre-back pairing of Sheila Antonio and Egness Tumbare onto the path of Papel who picked the far right corner to beat goalkeeper Lindiwe Magwede.
Magwede is a top goalkeeper and there was nothing she could have done about it.
Captain Emmaculate Msipa came closer to levelling matters but she didn’t put enough power behind her header in the 11th minute.
Five minutes later, Ruvimbo Mucherera, making her debut for the Mighty Warriors, got the equaliser after ghosting in to tap in a good cross from Ethel Chinyerere from the right flank.
With the Mighty Warriors enjoying some good spells, they could have scored on several occasions but the clearest of the chances they got came with 17 minutes still to play.
Rutendo Makore dribbled her marker inside out and from an acute angle, the best she could have done was to lay the ball to a teammate but a tired Msipa wasn’t quick enough to give her that option.
The Black Rhinos Queens striker elected to go for the spectacular and her effort sailed over the crossbar.
Immediately after the miss, Angola pounced, Papel finding herself face-to-face with Magwede again and putting the ball past the Zimbabwean goalie to all but secure the home side’s win.
