dyton mupawaenda
Bruce Chikuni in Pretoria
MIGHTY Warriors coach Shadreck Mlauzi is pleasantly surprised with the spirit shown by his troops in the 1-0 opening COSAFA Women’s Championship victory over Lesotho at Lucas Moripe Stadium yesterday.
Zimbabwe could have won with a bigger margin had they been ruthless in their offensive unit.
But, for a team which was assembled just two weeks prior to this tournament and flew to South Africa without playing a friendly match, this was praiseworthy.
But the performance left Mlauzi impressed.
“I’m pretty happy with how the girls played, this means a lot to a country which has not been playing international football for the last two years,” said Mlauzi.
“We have areas which I think we could have done better and I’m confident that the girls will do better in our next match.
“Most of them played together for the first time but they seem to be getting how we want them to perform, it was a positive start and I’m confident that we will go further in this competition.”
It was a nervy start from the Mighty Warriors, who survived an early scare after defender, Vimbai Mharadzi was outpaced by Makhotso Moalosi only to be denied from close range by ‘keeper, Cythia Shonga.
That wasn’t the only outstanding save made by Shonga.
She was in full command of her territory and even battled on like a real Warrior despite calls from the medical team to get her replaced after a heavy collision in late stages of the game.
And Mlauzi reserved special mention for the young goalkeeper.
“It’s difficult to single out any player for our victory but we all saw the fighting spirit which was shown by Shonga.
“It shows he wants it more and such mentality can win you any game in any day and I think it motivated her teammates in a way,” he added.
Mighty Warriors best chance fell on Christabel Katona but he failed to make the most of the chance with only the Lesotho’s goal minder in sight in the 20th minute.
There was nothing to separate these two sides in the first 45 minutes.
Lesotho came firing after the break with more clear attacking intentions.
And, on the back of sustained pressure, second half substitute, Privilege Mupeti broke the deadlock from a brilliant solo effort in the 57th minute.
The goal eased the pressure and unleashed the monster in the Mighty Warriors as they started to enjoy a lion’s share of possession.
Midfielder, Daisy Kaitano bossed the proceedings in the centre of the park to give Mighty Warriors the extra edge
Online Reporter