adminneighbours Mozambique in the first round of the Fifa Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
The Young Mighty Warriors’ preparations were dealt a blow last Friday following the withdrawal by the South African junior side, who had been scheduled to come together with their senior team for the International Challenge Cup on Unity Day on Thursday.
The South Africa Football Association have since informed Zifa that they have failed to secure seats on the Harare bound plan for an enlarged delegation and would now send the senior team which will date the Mighty Warriors in the second edition of the International Challenge Cup.
Coach Langton Giwa’s Young Mighty Warriors were hoping to use the match against Baby Banyana Banyana to prepare for the first round of the Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
The Fifa Women’s Under-20 World Cup which was set to be held in Uzbekistan next August may now be held in Japan, following the announcement by the world soccer governing body yesterday that they are switching the venue. Zimbabwe, who are the African Zone Six Champions, received a bye in the preliminary round which was played last month, and begin their campaign with a home tie against Mozambique on the weekend of February 17-19.
Zifa had been hoping to use the International Challenge Cup match pitting the Young Mighty Warriors and Baby Banyana Banyana, which was set to be played as a curtain raiser to the main match at Rufaro as the perfect platform to launch the junior side’s preparations.
South Africa were also hoping to use the international match to prepare for their World Cup qualifier against the winner between Botswana and Comoros as they were also handed a bye in the preliminary round.
This development has left Giwa’s charges shot on competitive football.
Giwa is assembling a new side as the bulk of his Zone Six champions have since graduated into the Mighty Warriors.
However, Women’s Soccer boss Mavis Gumbo remained optimistic yesterday that they would find international competition for the team before they leave for Maputo.
“Definitely we need to secure another match or two as this is a new team which is being assembled by the coaches and obviously they would want to assess the team further in a game situation. We will engage South Africa when they arrive for the Challenge Cup and see if our junior sides can still play at a later date.
“In our region, South Africa and Namibia have strong junior policies and are the best countries to compete against as we prepare for the tough World Cup qualifiers. We are taking these qualifiers seriously and also
confident that our team can go all the way if they get all the needed support.
“The team is still going to play as curtain raisers on Unity Day, and the technical team is trying to secure a competitive match against a boy’s select side. The team will quickly regroup after the festive season to
prepare for the upcoming fixture. The juniors are different from our senior team, which has been playing together for some time now.
“History has shown us that lengthy training periods for our teams reap fruits,” said Gumbo.
As is the case with the Mighty Warriors, the Under-20 team also have a tough journey to the World Cup finals.
If they beat Mozambique they will face West Africa giants Nigeria with the winner progressing to the third and final qualifying round where winners from the pool of Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Cameroon and
Democratic Republic of Congo would be waiting.
Two African nations will qualify for the World showpiece where 16 nations from the six confederations will battle it out for supremacy.
The Mighty Warriors, who open their African Women Championships qualifiers next month with an away tie against Botswana, will also face the Super Falcons of Nigeria if they progress to the first round.
Online Reporter