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ZIMBABWE senior women’s football team coach Sithethelelwe “Kwinji-15” Sibanda reckons the Mighty Warriors shot themselves in the foot yesterday after losing the opening match of the 2024 COSAFA Women’s Championship 0-1 to Mozambique.
The Mighty Warriors succumbed to a “silly” goal in the first half after failing to defend their lines from a corner kick, at Wolfson Stadium in Gqeberha, South Africa.
Mozambique’s Aurora Ngale made no mistake in breaking the deadlock from a tight angle from the short corner in the 18th minute.
The defeat meant the Zimbabweans no longer have control of their fate, as only the top team will progress to the semi-finals from each of the four groups.
Zimbabwe are in Group D, which comprises three teams, unlike Group A and B which are made up of four teams each.
This means the Mighty Warriors only have one game left against Lesotho on Sunday. They need to win the encounter convincingly and pray that the Mozambicans will fall to Lesotho next Tuesday.
After a bad day in the office yesterday, Sibanda told journalists that her side paid dearly for letting in a “silly goal” as well as for their failure to convert the chances they created after registering nine goal attempts compared to Mozambique’s eight.
“I think we had a good game. We just conceded a silly goal, but we created chances and couldn’t get a goal after that. At the end of the day, it’s all about points. Unfortunately, we lost, and we didn’t deserve to lose,” she said.
Asked about Zimbabwe’s chances of making it to the next round, Sibanda was skeptical.
“It’s a bit difficult because now there isn’t much in terms of games, in terms of where we can pick up points because when it comes to tournaments it’s about picking points.
“As long as you utilise your chances then you know you can get those points, but we struggled in terms of our finishing. We lacked the composure upfront after having so many entries into the box. That’s what it is, but it’s going to be difficult now,” said Sibanda.
Ironically, it was also Mozambique who denied the Mighty Warriors a spot on the podium in a third-place play-off at the last edition in Gauteng.
Mozambique yesterday showed intention to score early with Emilia Cazembe launching a long-range strike inside the opening five minutes but was denied by keeper Vanessa Lunga.
Still, inside the opening 10 minutes, Zimbabwe’s Nobukhosi Ncube crossed to Ethel Chinyerere, but that only forced the keeper to come out for a save.
Mozambique won a corner-kick and Ngale made no mistake in breaking the deadlock from a tight angle of the short corner.
Mozambique had a chance to double their lead through Cidalia Cuta, but the keeper punched the ball away for a corner kick and nothing came of it this time.
Zimbabwe kept on their search for an equaliser and could have levelled minutes closer to half-time, but keeper Neima Nhamire made two important blocks to keep her side in the lead at the break.
At the start of the second half, Zimbabwe brought on Priviledge Mupeti for Peacemore Kenende. That move almost produced an immediate impact for the Mighty Warriors, but they were denied yet again by Nhamire after storming the opponents’ box.
Zimbabwe endured a frustrating second half as they could not make the possession and chances count.
Online Reporter