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MIGHTY Warriors coach Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda says preparations for the COSAFA Women’s Championship are taking shape after spending the first week working on the players’ fitness.
The tournament has seen refurbishments being made at Barbourfields and Luveve, which means some of the Castle Lager matches in Bulawayo could be played at Hartsfield from this weekend until after the tournament.
ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa revealed yesterday that he had secured funding for the Mighty Warriors.
The senior women side kick-started their preparations last week at Gateway School. Zimbabwe will take on Zambia, Madagascar and Malawi in Group A. They will open their campaign against Madagascar on September 13 at Barbourfields.
Sibanda, who is being assisted by Thomas Chinyan’anya and Mebelo Njekwa, said they are making progress with their charges and are likely to trim down their squad to 25 by end of this week.
“Great improvement that we have seen really in terms of their fitness level, through the integrated training that we have done,’’ said Sibanda.
“We have seen a lot of improvement, it shows in the training sessions that we do.
“You can see that now they can withstand the pressures that we are putting onto them and they are lasting a bit longer than when they came.”
Being the defending champions, the Mighty Warriors know that a lot is expected from them. Sibanda said they are hoping to assess their squad in a match situation to try different combinations.
“In the second week, our emphasis is on team shaping and getting the combinations right. We are looking for a junior team, probably an Under-18 side, to play the boys team, so that we test our combinations in those friendly matches. “So basically, this week is all about working on tactical issues, working on combinations and trying different combinations,” said Sibanda.
Lesotho and South Africa will meet this weekend in Johannesburg as part of their preparations. Lesotho and South Africa are in Group C alongside Botswana and Namibia.
They will clash in their opening encounter on September 14 at Luveve. South Africa are coming into this tournament as one of the favourites, having won the title three times before Zimbabwe put an end to their dominance in 2011, the last time the COSAFA Women’s Championship was held.
Group B consists of East African guest nation Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique and Swaziland.
Online Reporter