dyton mupawaenda
Tadious Manyepo in JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
NOBUKHOSI Ncube wants the Mighty Warriors to be relentless in attack when they play Namibia in their second match of the ongoing Cosafa Women’s Championship at Dobsonville this afternoon.
The match kicks-off at 3:30pm.
The Zimbabweans are walking with a spring in their step after wrapping the maximum points in their 1-0 opening match victory over Lesotho.
With three points to their name, the Mighty Warriors are on top of the log while their opponents today are on a point apiece along with Botswana in a group anchored by Lesotho with no points.
And the Shadreck Mlauzi-coached girls can do themselves a huge favour with a second straight win over Namibia.
However, the latter are a different kettle of fish from Lesotho having vastly improved in recent years.
And the Mighty Warriors vice-captain Ncube has urged the Zimbabweans to bring their A-Game against Namibia.
“The match against Namibia is crucial as far as our future in the tournament is concerned,” Ncube said.
“Our match against Lesotho was very intensive and we were making a lot of mistakes in all departments.
“But I thought we ought to have scored more goals given the chances we created in that game.
“Our attacking need to be on point. As a team, we need to be flawless.
“We need to create as many chances and score as many goals.
“Namibia is a very good team. They showed it in their opening game against Namibia.
“That means we need to be cautious and be compact in all departments.
“But it is our attack that we need to sharpen. We need to improve in our conversion rate”.
Barring any eventualities, Ncube is most likely to retain her place at the heart of Mlauzi’s back three.
Ncube was solid in the match against Lesotho and from the way they trained yesterday, Ncube, just like in the opening game will be partnered by Purity Mugayi and Vimbai Mharadzi.
Chapungu Queens linchpin Edline Mutumbami who came on as a substitute against Lesotho and changed the complexion of the game is also likely to start
in this afternoon.
Livewire winger Privilege Mupeti who scored against Lesotho after coming on as a substitute could also start with Mlauzi confirming he is making some changes from the team that played last week.
“We are freshening up a bit. We need to galvanize our midfield and add some firepower in front,” said Mlauzi.
“Namibia is a tough opponent and we need to step up to the plate. This is a very crucial match which we need to win.
“If we beat Namibia, we stand a very good chance of progressing to the semi-finals”.
Zimbabwe will wrap their group business against Botswana on Wednesday.
Group winners in all the three pools of four teams will advance to the last four along with the best placed runners-up across the groups.
Mighty Warriors Probable Line-Up
Cynthia Shonga, Eunice Chibanda, Purity Mugayi, Vimbai Mharadzi, Nobukhosi Ncube, Daisy Kaitano, Shyleene Dambamuromo, Edline Mutumbami, Christable Katona, Privileg Mupeti, Rudo Neshamba
Online Reporter