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Sithethelelwe ‘Kwinji 15’ Sibanda

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
MIGHTY Warriors coach Sithethelelwe ‘Kwinji 15’ Sibanda yesterday announced her final 20-member squad to do duty in the 2017 edition of the Cosafa Women Championship that gets underway in Bulawayo on Wednesday.

Kwinji 15, herself a former star midfielder in the Mighty Warriors squad, kept some of the girls that did duty for the nation in the Olympic Games in Brazil last year where they put up some telling performances against women football powerhouses which include Germany.

The Mighty Warriors are in Group A alongside Zambia, Malawi and debutants Madagascar, and get their tournament underway against Madagascar at Barbourfields Stadium. Madagascar will feature at the Cosafa Women’s Championships for the first time having missed the previous four instalments of the regional showpiece competition with the country only recently having played their first official international.

They go on to face their Group A rivals Zambia on September 15 and round up the group games against Malawi.

The Mighty Warriors, winners of the last Cosafa Women Championship tournament on home soil in 2011, arrive in Bulawayo this morning where a reception has been organised for them by Zifa.

Indications are that the Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhosini Hlongwane will also grace the reception meant to give the girls moral support ahead of the start of the tournament.

Mighty Warriors’ final Cosafa squad

Goalkeepers: Chido Dzingirai, Manyara Mandara, Precious Mudyiwa

Defenders: Nobuhle Majika, Danai Bhobho, Rufaro Machingura, Sheila Makoto, Nobukhosi Ncube, Lynett Mutokuto

Midfielders: Talent Mandaza, Marjory          Nyaumwe, Daisy Kaitano, Rejoice Kapfumvuti, Eunice          Chibanda, Vimbai Mharadzi

Strikers: Rutendo Makore, Berita Kabwe,              Priviledge Mupeti, Susan Nyama, Ethel Chinyerere