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NewsDay

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Young and mighty warriors’ defining moments

Sport
THE Mighty Warriors and Young Warriors’ 2015 All-Africa Games’ fate would be sealed this weekend when the two teams play West African opponents in the decisive second leg qualifiers.

THE Mighty Warriors and Young Warriors’ 2015 All-Africa Games’ fate would be sealed this weekend when the two teams play West African opponents in the decisive second leg qualifiers.

BY HENRY MHARA

Both Zimbabwe representatives appear to be in a good position to progress to the September finals to be hosted in Congo Brazzaville after posting good results in the first leg fixtures.

The Mighty Warriors host Africa’s second-best ranked team, Ghana, at Rufaro Stadium tomorrow, while the Young Warriors are away in Cameroon.

At Rufaro, the Mighty Warriors will be looking to build on an away goal they scored in the 2-1 defeat from the reverse fixture in Accra three weeks ago.

A 1-0 win or any two-goal margin victory would see the Rosemary Mugadza-coached side progress to the finals, while the Black Queens will just need to avoid a defeat to go through.

While the Mighty Warriors technical bench commended their players for a job well done in Accra, they know they still have all to do against one of Africa’s best teams.

Speaking to NewsDay Sport this week, Mighty Warriors assistant coach Mebelo Njekwa said: “Ghana is one of the best teams in Africa, but so are we, and looking at our performance in the first leg, our chances are there. Our preparations from day one went on well. We have no injury worries and the players are physically and mentally ready.”

He added: “It was very important for us to get the away goal and now we need to build from that in terms of the scores and the performance. We know we are playing a top team, but there is no reason to fear. We will fight. Morale in camp is good and we expect the girls to rise to the occasion. Our appeal is for the community to come and support the girl child on Sunday.”

In a bid to woo supporters to the match and cheer the ladies team, Zifa has reduced the cheapest ticket for the match to a dollar, while the grandstand and VIP areas will cost $2 and $3 respectively.

Zifa had wanted tomorrow’s Premier Soccer League match between Dynamos and Flame Lily across town at Gwanzura Stadium to be moved to a later date as they argue it would be a counter-attraction to the Rufaro game, but the Premier Soccer League yesterday turned down the request.

The postponement of the match could have led to chaos in the league programme as Dynamos are playing ZPC Kariba in the Independence Trophy semi-finals on Wednesday.

Two other matches-FC Platinum-Harare City and Chapungu-ZPC are outstanding as well.

The Ghana team arrived in the country on Wednesday afternoon and is using the Zifa Village ground for their training sessions. Interestingly, that is where the Mighty Warriors are camped.

Ghana were expected to have the feel of the match venue yesterday.

The Young Warriors have similar ambitions of qualifying for the Brazzaville Games when they take on their Cameroonian counterparts in the second leg fixture at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé tomorrow afternoon.

The match will kick-off at 1430hrs Zimbabwe time.

The Kalisto Pasuwa-coached side took a 1-0 advantage to Cameroon and while there are many permutations that would see them through, they will just need to avoid a defeat to be safe.

Pasuwa led his delegation out of the country yesterday morning and were expected to arrive in Yaoundé this afternoon.

The former Dynamos gaffer travelled with a depleted squad of 18, all who reported for camp after most teams refused to release their players for the match, arguing that the match was not recognised by Fifa.

Players such as the FC Platinum duo of Walter Musona and Kelvin Moyo and other two from Highlanders Thomas Chideu and Teenage Hadebe, which Pasuwa had wanted to travel with, were barred from going into camp by their clubs.

However, regulars Wisdom Mutasa, scorer of the goal that currently separates the two teams, Blessing Moyo, Ronald Pfumbidzai, Praise Tonha and the exciting Malvern Gaki, who thrilled fans with his silky skills in the first leg match, all travelled to Cameroon and should be able to provide stability in the team.

In contrast, Cameroon have reinforced their team by adding 11 foreign-based players into the squad.

According to reports from Yaoundé, coach Pierre Ndjili Ndengue has called up Oumar Diop (US Penoise National, France), Philemon Theodore Amougou (FC Nyon, Switzerland), Fabien Thokomeni (Herta Berlin, Germany), Hamidou Abdou Rahim (As Vita Club, DRC), Nji Fifen Mounpain Ousseini (Deportivo Muniz, Argentina), Alain Richard Ebwelle (Valencia, Spain), Thierry Ernest Anang (Stade Tunisien, Tunisia), Alexandre Happi (Clemson FC, US), Joel Arthur Bessong (Technofutbol, US) and Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper André Ako.

But the Cameroon team also had problems of their own to deal with in the build up to the match after their camp was hit by a bout of malaria this week which affected at least 10 players, according to reports from Cameroon.