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Harare Bureau
SIX months after a hastily-assembled Mighty Warriors crashed out of the Cosafa Championships, the Zimbabwe senior national women’s team regroups tomorrow.

They are preparing for the Africa Women Cup of Nations (Awcon) qualifiers, which get underway, next month. The Awcon finals will be held in Morocco in July next year.

The Mighty Warriors are expected to go into camp tomorrow, after they have completed the Covid-19 tests, as well as routine pregnancy tests.

Zimbabwe are preparing to host Eswatini in the Awcon first round, first leg match, at the National Sports Stadium. The matches will be played between June 7 and June 15. Should Zimbabwe progress, they will meet the winners of the match between Angola and Botswana, in the second and final qualifying round, in October.

The Mighty Warriors are coming from a long lay-off and will use the camping period to try and prepare for the international matches.

Last year, the team hastily regrouped for the annual regional tournament and the Mighty Warriors were humiliated, at the Nelson Mandela Bay, to bow out at the group stage. They failed to win a single game and also failed to score a goal. Some of the regular players were not selected for the Cosafa Championships.

But, yesterday, Mighty Warriors coach, Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda announced a 25-member squad, in which she picked some of the players she left out of the South African trip.

Correctional Queens midfielders, Marjoury Nyaumwe and Berita Kabwe, Blue Swallows defender Sheila Makoto and Faith Drive forward, Maud Mafuruse, have bounced back into the national team. They were overlooked for the Cosafa Championships where a new-look Mighty Warriors team fared badly, returning home without a point, and a goal, from their three-team group.

Zimbabwe lost to Tanzania and Botswana by identical 0-1 margins. Mighty Warriors skipper, Emma Msipa, has also been drafted into the team.

Msipa’s Spanish club, CF Joventut Alamasorra, will complete their season at the end of this month.

The former Black Rhinos Queens midfielder has already said she is ready to return home, and play for her country, once her season ends.

She is the only national team player who has been enjoying game time, since joining the Segunda Division Pro. Msipa’s club are on course to survive relegation, after picking up seven points, in their last three matches. Mighty Warriors team manager, Tafadzwa Bhasera, has said the Awcon qualifiers are part of the process to take the team back to where it used to belong. Five years ago, the Mighty Warriors were just one of the two African countries who featured at the 2016 Olympic Games.

However, they have since slipped down the order.

“It’s a process (to return to be among the elite teams),” she said.

“We need the support of everyone, to help the Girl Child, the Government, the corporate sector and all the other stakeholders.”
Black Rhinos Queens players are also preparing for the Cosafa Champions League qualifiers scheduled for either June or July.

The regional winners will qualify for the Champions League finals to be held later this year.
Mighty Warriors squad

Goalkeepers: Lindiwe Magwede (Herentals), Precious Mudyiwa (Black Rhinos) Cynthia Shonga (Harare City)
Defenders: Nobukhosi Ncube (Correctional Queens) Sheila Makoto (Blue Swallows) Talent Mukwanda (Herentals) Tabeth Mutinhiri (Herentals) Edeline Mutumbami (Blue Swallows) Egness Tumbare (Harare City) Moreblessing Bwenende (Harare City)
Midfielders: Emmaculate Msipa (CF Joventut Almassora ,Spain) Marjory Nyaumwe (Correctional) Mavis Chirandu (Black Rhinos) Shyline Dambamuromo (Faith Drive) Alice Moyo (Faith Drive) Danai Bhobho (Harare City) Daisy Kaitano (Black Rhinos) Berita Kabwe ( Correctional Queens) Ennert Chemhere (Hearts of Oak).
Strikers: Rutendo Makore (Black Rhinos) Natasha Ndowa (Blue Swallows) Dinarose Banda (Queen Lozikeyi) Maud Mafuruse (Faith Drive) Privilege Mupeti (Black Rhinos) Christabel Katona (Black Rhinos).