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Harare Bureau
FOLLOWING the visit by two-time Olympic-winning coach Pia Sundhage, under the Fifa Coach Mentorship Programme, Mighty Warriors gaffer, Sithethelelwe Sibanda, says their interaction has been an eye-opener.

Sundhage, who led the United States team to two Olympic medals in 2008 and 2012, is mentoring Sibanda under a one-year programme launched last October in Switzerland.

The workshop saw female coaches from across the globe being paired with experienced coaches in a move aimed at supporting them to acquire new knowledge, skills and experience.

Sibanda was paired with the Swedish coach, who was in the country for their first meeting.

The visiting coach also had the opportunity to watch Black Rhinos and Correctional Queens training sessions before she left on Tuesday.

“It’s all about me as a coach, how best she can mentor me but, obviously, mentoring me means also understanding things around me,’’ said Sibanda.

‘’She is not from Africa and sometimes it’s a challenge or difficult, she needs to understand football in our country.

‘’We discussed issues related to African teams, not doing well in global tournaments, and stuff like that. And I would say it was an eye-opener, I learnt a lot of things.

“But there are still more visits, more Skype calls, more questionnaires to be done before the end of the course. I would have acquired a lot stuff by the time the course is done.’’

The Mighty Warriors coach said she is hoping Sundhage will get the opportunity to meet the women’s national team during one of her visits when she returns to Zimbabwe.

“It would have been nice, especially if the team is in camp, and there are still more visits to come.’’