By Sports Reporter Zimbabwe……. (1) 2
South Sudan… (0)1
The Mighty Warriors were given a huge scare by minnows South Sudan as they needed a late goal to defeat the North African guest nation in their second Group B encounter at the Madibaz Stadium in Nelson Mandela Bay yesterday.
After losing to Tanzania in their first match on Thursday, the Mighty Warriors desperately needed a win to keep their hopes of progressing to the semifinals alive ahead of their final group game against neighbours Botswana tomorrow.
Zimbabwe grabbed an early goal in their contest against South Sudan as Rudo Neshamba netted after 12 minutes and it looked as though that would be the start of a rush of scoring.
But South Sudan showed they had learnt much from their 7-0 defeat to Botswana in their opener and were more compact and defensively sound, while also creating some opportunities themselves.
They were rewarded when Chieng Riek raced clear to score on 77 minutes and suddenly it looked as though they would earn a first point at the tournament.
But Zimbabwe would not be denied, and Marjory Nyaumwe scored a winner six minutes later to deny the Sudanese a famous result. South Sudan captain Amy Lasu was named Player of the Match.
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The win leaves the Mighty Warriors third in the group on three points behind second placed Botswana who have the same number of points.
Tanzania, who beat Botswana 2-0 yesterday are top of the group on six points.
The East African guest nation will not be caught at the top of the pool as their six points can’t be beaten and they would be ahead of both Botswana and Zimbabwe on head-to-head, which is how group positions are calculated in the tournament.
Botswana and Zimbabwe will now each hope to get a win when those sides clash tomorrow to take one of them to six points and in the running as the best-placed runner-up to also advance to the semifinals.
The teams are also building towards the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers that begin next month.
