ONCE again, there was nothing to separate emerging rivals South Africa and Zimbabwe after the two teams shared spoils in an international friendly match at Sinaba Stadium in Daveyton on Saturday afternoon.
REPORT BY HENRY MHARA IN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
Mighty Warriors striker Rudo Neshamba gave Zimbabwe a halftime lead, but former Banyana Banyana captain Amanda Dlamini scored early in the second half to deny the visiting team what could have been a very significant victory.
This was the sixth time the two sides have met since 2010 when the Mighty Warriors bounced back onto the international scene.
The two teams, arguably the finest sides in the region, share two wins apiece plus two draws.
A win for Zimbabwe could have seen them getting away with bragging rights, but most important points that could have seen them move into the top 10 in the Fifa African rankings.
The Mighty Warriors are ranked 12th in Africa and while their recent resurgence has been spectacular, they only have the Cosafa cup to show for it.
South Africa on the other hand are ranked fourth in Africa and were at the Olympics last year as well as finishing as finalists in the Africa Cup of Nations seven months ago.
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However, Mighty Warriors new captain Felistas Muzongondi, who had what could have been a winning goal disallowed late in the match on Saturday in unclear circumstances, believes their latest match gave yet another indication that her team is not far off with Africa’s finest teams.
“South Africa went all the way to the finals of the Afcon, but we have managed to hold them. If we could hold them like this it shows that we are also good enough to compete at the highest level,” said Muzongondi.
“We could have beaten South Africa if our goal was not disallowed, but that is the nature of football. We played better than them for the better part of the game and created better chances, but unfortunately we couldn’t make them count. I hope this result will give us more points for us to move up the African rankings.
That will certainly help us when the draw for the Afcon is made later this year,” added Muzongondi, who has taken over the armband from the retired Onai Chingawo.
Qualifying for the Afcon could be the ultimate target for the Zimbabwe ladies, but there is no doubt their immediate goal would be to defend the Cosafa title in Namibia this October.
“Our preparations are well on course. We beat Zambia last month and this match has also assisted us to see the areas we need to improve. I’m happy with the performance of the team in the two games considering we are still in our off-season. We can only become better, but we need at least two other international friendlies before the Cosafa games,” said the Cyclone Stars midfielder.
Women football boss Mavis Gumbo, who also applauded the team for a “fine performance”, said she would “definitely” arrange another friendly match with South Africa the likeliest opposition.
“We will definitely invite South Africa for a reverse fixture. We still have unfinished business with them,” said Gumbo.
Mighty Warriors coach Rosemary Mugadza could not be any happier.
“I’m very happy drawing against the second best team in Africa. I’m happy that we managed to match them in every department. Remember this is a team which has a running league, a team that has played so many friendlies, a team which recently took part in a tournament in Cyprus where they faced world best teams like England, Sweden and France. As we speak right now they are preparing to go to Sweden for another major tournament. Getting a result against a team like that shows my team has also improved a lot over the past few years,” said Mugadza.
Besides Zambia and South Africa, the Mighty Warriors have played Uruguay early this year as they continue to prepare for the Cosafa and the Afcon qualifiers.
They are expected back in Harare this afternoon.
