Mighty Warriors ready for Tanzania

Sports Correspondent
DESPITE inadequate preparations, Mighty Warriors coach Shadreck Mlauzi says he is confident they will overcome Tanzania when the two sides meet in an African Women’s Championship qualifier in the East African country on Friday.

The Mighty Warriors only trooped into camp last week, while their proposed friendly match with Botswana failed to take place forcing the team to square off against a Bantu Rovers juniors team as part of preparations for the crucial tie.

However, Mlauzi said he was happy with the training programme despite delays in starting the preparations adding they had managed to utilise the two-week period they have been in camp to the fullest with double sessions of training.

“Training might not have started as earlier as we would have wanted but we have managed to maximise on the days we have been in camp and that is why we opted for double sessions. We haven’t had a rest,’’ said Mlauzi.

“The players were coming from pre-season and were not as up to scratch as we would have wanted hence there was great focus on fitness, but now I think we have them in an optimum position after the various drills we took them through and the gym sessions,” he added.

Mlauzi said he was using yesterday’s (Saturday) match against a Bantu Rovers U-17 side to select his final squad and assess the players.

He said it was unfortunate the planned friendly against Botswana did not materialise but said the match against Bantu Rovers was good enough.

Mlauzi said he would be using this week to fine tune the team before they head for Tanzania and expressed confidence they will win the tie.

“I think we have done what needs to be done for us to come with the result come Friday, after fine tuning next week I don’t see anything standing in our way. We also have a clean bill of health which means we have the full arsenal of our players at our disposal,” he said.

The former Inline Academy coach had drafted an ambitious plan that would have seen the women’s side go into camp in December but financial problems saw Zifa delaying organising the gathering.