Chronicle Editor
Tadious Manyepo, Harare Bureau
MIGHTY Warriors coach Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda has her best foot forward as she bids to lead Zimbabwe to their second Cosafa Women’s Championship glory in Gqeberha, South Africa.
The 14-team regional fiesta kicks off today and will run until November 2 in this port city.
Zimbabwe is in Group D along with familiar foes Mozambique and Lesotho and it will only be in action on Thursday.
The team is expected to jet out for the tournament today, and Sibanda will reassure the nation during its final home session that they will be in South Africa to protect the badge.
“We are ready, we have had good progress in terms of our preparation. The girls are raring to go and they are well-motivated. So, we are good to go,” said Sibanda.
“When you go for a tournament or a game, you look forward to winning it. We are challenging ourselves by going out there to win. We need to put the pieces together well.
“We have only two games in the group and that means we should aim to play as many games as we can by progressing to the highest level.
“We need to maximise the chances and be able to progress from one stage to the other.” Sibanda is no stranger in this competition having participated in it both as a player and coach.
She was assistant to Shadreck Mlauzi when Zimbabwe finished fourth in last year’s edition held in Gauteng upon the Mighty Warriors return to international football following a Fifa ban that eliminated them from the 2022 contest.
Now leading the technical team, the former Mighty Warriors star says her philosophy centres on possession and she has the tools to execute that.
“I am someone who believes in possession football. The players are assimilating that and it’s looking good,” she said.
“We want to dominate possession. We have a couple of players who are technically good and all are looking well.
“I am sure that type of play will be on display. We are not putting too much pressure on the players but the goal is to go out there and try to compete. “This Cosafa Women’s championship is also a chance for us to integrate the girls as we will begin the Afcon qualifiers in February next year. “We have a good base of players and are looking forward to the best.”
Zimbabwe will get Group D action underway with a date against Mozambique on Thursday before they battle it out against Lesotho on October 27 with only pool winners advancing to the semi-finals.
Mighty Warriors already know what to expect in both games having lost 2-0 against Mozambique in the third place play-off last year.
They were also in the same group as Lesotho who gave them a good run for their money before eventually winning the game 1-0, with substitute Privilege Mupeti settling the tie late in the game.
“We are never going to underrate any of our opponents. Football has changed a lot and we need to fight for our place,” added Sibanda. “We know for sure that we will face huge competition right from the first whistle and we should be prepared to suffer.”
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