BY HENRY MHARA
MIGHTY Warriors star Emmaculate Msipa is not only thinking about herself as she begins her European adventure with Spanish women Second Division side CF Joventut Almassora.
The Black Rhinos attacking midfielder is expected to leave the country this morning to embark on the football adventure.
She signed a one-year contract with an option to extend for another 12 months with the Segunda Division Pro side.
The 28-year-old becomes the second Zimbabwean professional footballer to ply her trade in Europe after fellow Mighty Warriors striker Rutendo Makore, who played in Spain three years ago.
There are others who have had short-term assignments, but did not sign professional contracts.
She said she wanted to open doors for other players from Zimbabwe in Europe.
“It’s finally happening, and I’m really excited,” said Msipa who was voted the local league’s best player in 2019.
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She won the Golden Boot award in the same year.
“It has always been my dream to play in Europe. This is one goal that I had not accomplished in my career. I had done almost everything that a professional footballer would desire to achieve. I have played at the Olympics, the Africa Cup of Nations, won the Cosafa Cup and have been voted the best player in the local league,” she said.
Msipa was part of the Mighty Warriors team that wrote the most amazing piece of history in local football by becoming the first ever Zimbabwean football team to qualify for the Olympics when they made it to the Rio Games in 2016.
She was one of the only three Zimbabweans to score a goal at the Games when she netted an injury-time consolation in a 6-1 loss to Australia. The team lost all its three group matches.
In the same year, she was also part of the Mighty Warriors team that played at the Africa Cup of Nations finals held in Cameroon.
Her impressive CV also includes winning the Cosafa Cup on home soil in 2011.
She believes her move to Europe will open doors for fellow women footballers who she says have continuously been marginalised despite almost always eclipsing their male counterparts.
“I’m looking forward to this opportunity. This is massive for me and women football in general. We normally don’t get the recognition we deserve but we continue to do what our male counterparts sometimes fail. I want to go there and prove that Zimbabwean women are talented footballers. I want to open doors for my fellow footballers so that we can be recognised. This is a chance that I will not waste,” said the player who has been part of the Mighty Warriors since 2010.
Msipa, who scored 24 goals in 27 appearances in 2019 to help the army team win the league title, is the second local female footballer to join a European club.
Makore was the first to break into Europe when she signed for Sporting de Huelva of Spain in 2017. She played for a year before returning home.
Zimbabwe has often struggled to export its female players despite their abundant talent with Ruvimbo Mutyavaviri, Merjury Nyaumwe and Onai Chingawo coming close to moving to Europe.
Mutyavaviri went to Sweden for trials in 2011, but a deal could not materialise. The duo of Nyaumwe and goalkeeper Chingawo was also invited for trials by Germany’s women side Bayern Munich, but also failed the test.
Follow Henry on Twitter @henrymhara
