Zimbabwe national U-20 women football team will be out to make history when they take on their Nigerian counterparts in a Fifa U-20 Women World Cup, first round, first leg qualifier match at the MKO Abeokuta International Stadium this afternoon.
Kick-off is 1600hrs Zimbabwe time.
The last time the Young Mighty Warriors met the Falconets in these qualifiers two years ago, the West African nation proved too good for their opponents, winning the tie 10-0 on aggregate.
However, the Young Mighty Warriors, boosted by their 7-0 aggregate demolition of neighbours Mozambique in the previous round of the qualifiers, will no doubt want to prove a point.
“History records are there to be broken,” said Young Mighty Warriors coach Langton Giwa yesterday.
“We also want to make our own history by becoming the first football team from Zimbabwe to qualify for the World Cup. To reach that goal we have to beat Nigeria along the way, and we are prepared for them.”
Added Giwa: “We are here to win the match although a draw will also be enough for us. We are not afraid of them at all. We know the Nigerians are big so we will try to keep the ball on the ground and to keep the movement very quick.”
Giwa, however, bemoaned the “inhuman” conditions that his team has been subjected to here.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
The team is booked into a brothel-like lodge, whose other wing is a nightclub. The rooms the players are staying in have no running water, forcing the players to use buckets for flushing and bathing.
Electricity has also been erratic at the facility as power is being constantly switched on and off while a busy highway that leads to neighbouring Togo runs across the lodge.
“It’s very regrettable that they decided to treat us in such a way, but we knew this before we left Harare. You could see from the way they treated us at the airport that something is just not well. We spend more than three hours just to get our passports stamped, that was unusual. I know it’s difficult for these young players, but we have told them to be strong and we are very encouraged by their reaction. They don’t look very concerned about these conditions,” said Giwa.
Giwa yesterday named an unchanged line-up to the one that humbled Mozambique. The team has six players who are currently playing regular football with the senior national team.
The players are Eunice Chibanda, Emmaculate Msipa, Rudo Neshamba, Danai Bhobho, Rutendo Makore and Elizabeth Chaparangana. Young Mighty Warriors starting XI P Mukutya, E Chibanda, R Jongoti, F Chasi, D Bhobho, E Msipa, M Chirandu, M Moyo, E Chaparangana, R Neshamba, R Makore.
