THE Mighty Warriors left the country for Zambia early morning yesterday for the decisive African Women’s Championship (AWC) final round second leg qualifier, hoping to salvage national pride after their male counterparts’ embarrassing exit from the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers at the hands of Tanzania last Sunday.
HENRY MHARA SPORTS REPORTER Team manager Charity Munemo yesterday said the team, looking to overturn a 0-1 deficit and qualify for the AWC finals set for Namibia this October, left Harare at 4am by bus.
They were expected in Lusaka just before midday and were set to have a training session in the afternoon ahead of the Sunday match at Nkoloma Stadium.
The team’s departure could mean players got part of their allowances they were promised by Zifa.
Players, who said they were owed monies from the previous ACW round against Botswana in February and in the friendly against South Africa and demanded better living conditions at Zifa Village, had threatened not to fulfil the match unless they received half of what they were owed.
The stand-off between Zifa and the players reached alarming levels on Tuesday afternoon when the Mighty Warriors staged a mini-training boycott pressing for their demands to be met.
Zimbabwe lost the first leg 0-1 and the winner of the Sunday match will join the other six countries plus hosts Namibia for the ACW finals to be staged in October.
However, coach Rosemary Mugadza who returned to the fold from a compassionate leave after the death of her brother forced her out of the first leg, said her team would be capable of turning things around in Lusaka and break a 10-year jinx of no-show at the finals.
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She believed the win could offer some sort of solace to local football fans following the ouster of their male counterparts from the Afcon 2015 qualifiers by the Taifa Stars.
“We played the same Zambia side twice at the end of last year in friendly matches and we scored seven against two,” she said.
“We know we are capable of beating them. What we just need is the right attitude for the game.
“I’m confident we will win the match and qualify. We just need to get an early goal and I know we can finish them off. “The girls need this win to qualify, and so are our supporters after the Warriors defeat.”
Zambia women, the Shepolopolo Queens, are flying on the wings of a recent turnaround in women’s football in Zambia, and will now feel that they are close to getting the ticket to AWC finals. The ACW finals are similar to the men’s Afcon.
This year’s tournament also serves as a qualifier for the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Canada next year, with the top three teams going through.
