Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze, Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Mighty Warriors are back on the international stage and this time they look more ready to turn the tables when their Four-Nations-Tournament campaign gets underway this Saturday in Ndola, Zambia.
After regrouping earlier in the week, they depart for Zambia today.
Zimbabwe faceoff Lesotho in their opening battle with kickoff penciled for 12:30PM at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium while hosts Zambia play Kenya in the second semi-final later on the same day.
A win over Lesotho will see Zimbabwe off to the finals penciled for June 9 at the same venue while a defeat will have them battle for third place on the same day, against losers of the other semi.
Mighty Warriors head coach Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda appears to be in a better position this time with her side better prepared compared to the previous time they were on duty.
When they participated at the Cosafa Tournament in February, the Mighty Warriors were coming from off season hence their shortcomings emerged mostly in lack of match fitness and endurance.
With the Zimbabwe Women’s Premiership now approaching matchday seven, Sibanda feels her players are in a better shape physically and mentally.
Further, this is the first time in years that she has foreign-based players in her team, making her selection pool wider while also adding depth to the team.
“I am happy that we have our internationals back after so long, as a technical team, this is what we would love every time but unfortunately because of different calendars it is a challenge to have them often,” said Sibanda.
“We would have loved to have more of them, I am aware that there are plenty of Zimbabweans born out there, while others migrated but it is only these two who confirmed their availability.
“We had four others in our initial plans but they could not make it. Two of them had work commitments while the other two are nursing injuries.
“However, we are happy to have these two, their availability brings a fresh dimension to our game because they play in different leagues to ours.
“They bring something new and good to the team… our new and young players can learn a lot from them while their presence also increases competition in the camp.”
The Mighty Warriors will also bank on Ethel Chinyerere their evergreen forward who recently joined Zambia’s Green Buffaloes hence will meet the team in Ndola.
“Kwinji 15” notes that this time her team is in a better shape and that they are ready to battle for silverware.
The last time Zimbabwe featured at the international friendlies was in December 2025 when they played against eventual winners Zambia in the final to settle for silver while hosts Malawi became the bronze medalists.
This time, while they have their eyes on gold, the team seeks to use the tournament as a preparatory platform ahead of the 2028 LA Olympics Qualifiers penciled for October against Malawi.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to play at the Four-Nations-Tournament, it is important for our players to get that international exposure,” said the coach.
“It is a good opportunity for us because it creates an atmosphere for the team to stay competitive. The games will give a good picture of who really is the perfect fit for that squad, with the bigger picture being the Olympic Qualifiers.
“It is good that in the tournament we are playing powerhouses, it will be good competition and it will test the players in terms of what exactly they can give us.”
Zimbabwe’s biggest threat will be perennial rivals Zambia, a regional powerhouse who have been the Mighty Warriors’ stumbling block for long.
The last time the two met was at the Cosafa were they played out a tightly contested goalless draw in the group stages before the Mighty Warriors suffered a heartbreaking 3-1 defeat in the third/fourth placement match.
This time, Sibanda is optimistic of a favourable result.
“We will play our perennial rival Zambia and this one will be a blockbuster compared to the last time that we met at Cosafa,” she said.
“At Cosafa, our players were coming from the offseason hence we were outclassed on fitness and endurance while even cohesion was not up to scratch at the time but now, we are much better.
“We will also entrust younger players as we are still rebuilding so we have the likes of Bethel Kondo who did well at Cosafa and deserve another dance.”
