Mugadza eyes championship

team to success in the Cosafa Women’s soccer championships on home soil.
Chidzambwa led the Warriors to Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup glory in 2009 using a team drawn from home-based talent led by former CAPS United utility player Method Mwanjali.
Two years down the road, the resurgent Mighty Warriors have been presented with a chance to host the regional tournament, which will run at Gwanzura and Rufaro from July 2-9.
Mugadza, just like Chidzambwa, is a former Mighty Warriors skipper and defender.
Yesterday she reckoned that her charges had the pedigree to emulate their male counterparts when they host the tournament which also includes Bostwana, Lesotho, Moambique, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
Tanzania are not a Cosafa member but they have been invited to the competition whose 2011 edition looked to have collapsed following the late withdrawal from hosting by Reunion.
However, Zifa saved the competition when they agreed to a request by the Cosafa leadership to come in as 11th hour replacement hosts.
Mugadza believes her team, which has highlighted their resurgence by qualifying for the All-Africa Games, can also win the regional title. The Mighty Warriors have been drawn in Group A together with Lesotho, Mozambique and Malawi.
They will get their campaign off with a date against Lesotho on the opening day on Saturday. Zimbabwe’s match against Lesotho will be preceded by a clash between three-time champions South Africa and Zambia. But after closely assessing the teams in the tournament, Mugadza revealed that that she was confident the Mighty Warriors could go all the way and win the title.
“I would not have wished for any other opponents because football is changing and all the teams are improving as there are no longer small teams.
“You can see that South Africa and Ethiopia are contesting for a place at the Olympics and this shows football is improving.
“We are not going to be complacent and we just need to win all our group matches to book a place in the semis,” said Mugadza.
The Mighty Warriors are the Group A seeds while South Africa head Group B, which also has Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania.
Despite Mugadza’a confidence, Banyana Banyana, who have won every edition of this tournament, will once again begin as favourites.
Banyana Banyana won the 2002 edition at Rufaro before registering further success at the 2006 competition in Zambia and in Angola two years later.
Mugadza featured for the Mighty Warriors in the inaugural Cosafa Women Championships which Zimbabwe hosted in 2002 and lost 2-1 to Banyana Banyana in the final. Current skipper Nomsa “Boyz” Moyo is the only surviving member of that squad.
Mugadza said winning the tournament as coach would atone for the disappointment she endured as captain of the team when they lost to South Africa. The Mighty Warriors coach also felt that the tournament would for a strong part of her team’s preparations for t he All-Africa Games scheduled for Maputo in September.
“It is a good thing for us to be playing against these teams because we are going to Maputo where the competition will be tough and we will meet a lot of teams which we don’t know.
“This tournament takes me back to the 2002 edition. I was a player then and we lost due to lack of concentration when we conceded a last minute goal. And it would feel good to win this time around,” said Mugadza.
Mugadza, however, noted that a number of things including the turf at Rufaro, which has now become artificial have changed since 2002.
“A lot of things have changed since we last played Banyana Banyana in December. We were just rebuilding and now we have assembled a team that is capable of playing and upsetting South Africa or any other team.
“I just hope the girls will carry on from where they left off against Angola,” said Mugadza.
After finishing runners-up nine years ago the Mighty Warriors will now be hoping they can go one step further and secure the title.
With the ZTA having agreed to host all the teams, and coming to the help of Zifa, all seems set for the staging of the tournament.
Fixtures:
Group A:
Saturday:
Zimbabwe v Lesotho (Rufaro, 3.15pm)
Mozambique v Malawi (Gwanzura, 1pm)
Sunday:
Lesotho v Mozambique (Rufaro, 1pm)
Malawi v Zimbabwe (Rufaro, 3.15pm)
July 5:
Malawi v Lesotho (Rufaro, 3.15pm)
Zimbabwe v Mozambique (Gwanzura, 3.15pm)
Group B:
Saturday:
South Africa v Zambia (Rufaro, 1pm)
Tanzania v Botswana (Gwanzura, 3.15pm)
Sunday:
Zambia v Tanzania (Gwanzura Stadium,1pm)
Botswana v South Africa (Gwanzura, 3.15pm)
July 5
South Africa vs Tanzania (Gwanzura, 1pm)
Botswana vs Zambia (Rufaro, 1pm).