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Sports Reporter
THE Young Mighty Warriors have intensified their World Cup qualifier preparations and are confident they will be in top condition by the time they face Ethiopia on March 22 in Addis Ababa.
Zimbabwe and other African countries are battling for two tickets to represent the continent at the finals in Costa Rica and Panama in August.
After travelling to Ethiopia for the first leg, the return leg is on March 27 although the venue of that game depends on CAF changing their decision to ban all the country’s stadiums from hosting international matches.
The women’s encounter will be played five days before the Warriors host Algeria in a 2021 AFCON qualifier.
The national Under-20 women’s football team have been in camp for the past week at ZIFA Village.
Coach Rosemary Mugadza believes the one-month preparatory time will go a long way in assisting the team, which is seeking to progress to the next round by overcoming the East Africans.
However, the Ethiopians, who hammered Burundi 7-0 in the previous round, are no pushovers.
“The lengthy training camp is good for us as it gives us ample time to work on assessing each and every player,’’ she said.
“Their fitness levels, at least, is not bad, which are a plus.’’
From the 25 players in camp, the former Mighty Warriors skipper has retained the team which played against Malawi in the preliminary round.
She has included some junior players who featured for the Under-17 World Cup qualifiers but fell at the first hurdle against Botswana.
“We have three new players — Vanessa Makonye, Sarah Chiwoko and Alice Moyo — and we have also roped in Melody Chikoore, Tinotenda Taurai and Lorraine Mupasi who were in the Under-17 team.
“We will look for the Under-17 and Under-20 boys’ team to play against in friendly matches.
“We can even play against some of the PSL teams that have begun their pre-season training,” said Mugadza.
Young Mighty Warriors squad
Goalkeepers: Cythnia Shonga (Harare City), Melissa Chinwadzimba (Conduit), Tariro Chirume (Faith Drive).
Defenders: Pationa Nyamugure (Faith Drive), Precious Baison (Auckland), Annie Ndura (Conduit), Sharon Teterai (Black Rhinos), Greatwin Dzawo (Faith Drive), Moreblessing Bwende (Harare City), Alice Moyo (Faith Drive), Vanessa Makoni (Harare City).
Midfielders: Sarah Chiwoko (Harare City), Ennety Chemhere, (Hearts of Oak), Faith Chezhara (Harare City), Beata Chako (Maningi), Valeria Packry (Harare City0, Shyline Dambamuromo (Faith Drive), Lauryn Mupasi (Street Set), Rennie Mudimu (Faith Drive), Tinotenda Taurai (Faith Drive).
Strikers: Talent Bizeki (Maningi), Dinah Banda (Queen Lozikeyi Academy), Melody Chikore (Faith Drive), Tinotenda Sakara (Harare City).
Online Reporter