The Mighty Warriors coach Rosemary Mugadza said her team would be going for nothing short of victory when they face off with Angola in a Zone VI All-Africa Games first round, first leg qualifier in Dunda, 400km out of capital Luanda, on Sunday.
The Mighty Warriors left last night aboard a South African Airways flight and were expected to sleep over in South Africa before connecting to Luanda on Friday.
A victory over Angola in the two-legged fixture will see the Mighty Warriors securing their place at the All-Africa Games set for Mozambique in September.
In an interview with NewsDay Sport during the sidelines of the send-off ceremony organised by the football governing body Zifa in the capital on Thursday, Mugadza said: “We are going to Angola to attack and make sure that at the same time we defend well.
“Our approach will be to play an open game and hopefully get the away goal, but one thing is for certain we won’t be playing for a draw but to win the match.”
Winning away would make the Mighty Warriors’ battle for qualification easier as they would go into the second leg set for two weeks’ time at Rufaro Stadium in the driving seat.
A confident Mugadza added that her technical team had done their research about their opponents and added that the training camp in Hwange had helped them acclimatise to the hot and humid conditions they expect in Angola.
“We have done some homework on our opponents and what we expect to find in Angola. For starters we know that the Angolans are going to play a physical game because they are big and strong.
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“In trying to counter that type of physical play we have played against some men’s teams and the players have been acquitting themselves well. The training camp in Hwange also helped us acclimatise to the hot and humid conditions and all I can say is that we are going to come back with a win,” Mugadza said.
The Mighty Warriors bulldozed their way through to the second round of the All-Africa Games qualifiers after thumping Zambia 3-1 on aggregate.
Speaking during the send-off ceremony the Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze, who was filling in for his president Cuthbert Dube said:
“Women’s football is part of our co-business, as we draw inspiration from the words of the Fifa president Sepp Blatter who said the future of world football is feminine. Without women’s football our future is doomed which is why we have invested a lot in the women’s game recently.
“As Zifa we also value the All-Africa Games competition as it is like the Olympics for Africa and in the past, previous women’s teams have taken part in the same tournament in 2003 and in 1995 when we hosted the games.”
Squad
Goalkeepers: O Chingawo, C Dzingirai.
Defenders: E Chibanda, R Mutyavaviri, L Masase, P Mujuru, N Madzika.
Midfielders: T Mairosi, M Nyaumwe, N Ndlovu, N Moyo (captain), E Msipa, T Mandaza, V Bepete.
Strikers: E Jeke, K Bhasopo, R Machingura, R Neshamba.
Coach: Rosemary Mugadza Assistant coach: J Chikaure Team manager: C Munemo Technical director: M Jongwe.
