Veronica Gwaze, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Senior Women's Football team are not leaving anything to chance in their preparations and quest to make an impression at the COSAFA Women's Championships in South Africa.
The tournament starts on October 22.
And the Mighty Warriors face a tough opening assignment in a cagey three-team Group D where there is little margin for error. Zimbabwe will begin their semi-final bid against Mozambique before they take on Lesotho three days later.
The tournament which runs until November 2, returns to Nelson Mandela Bay in Gqeberha, South Africa with a record 14 teams vying for honours.
With Mozambique seated at position 99 on the FIFA World Rankings and Lesotho 176th the opener will be a huge ask for the Mighty Warriors who over the years have slid into 125.
"It will not be an easy one so we have to be at our best right from the preparations," said Mighty Warriors coach Sithethelelwe "Kwinji 15" Sibanda.
"Everything is going well, there is a lot of progress as far as training is concerned.
"Players are showing a lot of commitment, the work rate is high and so is the competition in camp."
In the last COSAFA edition, Mozambique finished off the tournament as bronze medallists after beating Zimbabwe 2-0 in the third-place play-offs.
Interestingly the two sides appeared at the first COSAFA Women's Championship in 2002 where Mozambique were handed a humiliating 11-1 defeat by hosts Zimbabwe at Rufaro in the knock-out rounds.
However, they (Mozambique) went on to reach the semi-finals.
In 2019, they also lost 0-4 to the Mighty Warriors to bow out of the competition bottom in their pool after losing all their group games. However, since then, a lot has changed for the two sides.
While Mozambique made strides in improving its status in the region, the Mighty Warriors have regressed.
They are now having to rebuild from the ashes of the mess that Women's football was plunged into by the previous ZIFA leadership under Felton Kamambo.
Sibanda has sought to strike a balance between youth and experience in her rebuilding exercise, handing first national team call-ups to Morelife Nyagumbo, Precious Mudyiwa, Ethel Chinyerere, Mitchel John, Patience Ndlovu, Peace-more Kanende, Vanessa Lunga, Sheila Antonio, Talent Chimbadzo and Nadia Semba among others.
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"We are working on all aspects of the game and the adaptation looks good," said the coach.
"There is also notably good integration, you know players come from different teams so it is a process for us to come up with a solid unit that speaks in one voice."
With some unfinished business between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, Sibanda refuses to read much into the FIFA rankings.
Sibanda added that having beaten Mozambique countless times before, they should approach the fixture with a lot of caution.
"We are moving into match-oriented tactics, especially now that we know who we are playing.
"We should not be complacent or take comfort in the fact that we have beat them before.
"It is crucial for us to understand ourselves tactically in line with our opponents."
She is also praying for consistency in her charges.
"I hope that by competing, we will maintain what we are doing right now in camp and bring the much-desired results."
"Some of our players will be debuting for the senior team so playing a team that has the experience we have to find ways to have an edge over the opponent.
"We still have some experienced players on our team, they will provide leadership but they are not guaranteed a spot on the team, they have to work for it.
"They (Mozambique) are a good and experienced side, and we will need to apply ourselves well."
