“Kwinji 15” Rallies Mighty Warriors

Tadious Manyepo

Mighty Warriors coach Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda has expressed satisfaction over the manner in which her charges’ preparations have gone ahead of their clash against Eswatini in an Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier tomorrow (Wednesday).

The tie is scheduled for the National Sports Stadium.

Having been booted out in the group stages of the recent Cosafa Championships in South Africa, Sibanda believes her team have now gelled and will turn on the power against Eswatini.

The second leg of the qualifiers will be staged in Mbabane next Tuesday with the winner set to face either Mozambique or Botswana in the final phase of the qualification.

The AWCON will be staged in Morocco in July 2022 and Sibanda believes her girls stand a chance to be at the fiesta but she is not crossing the river before she gets there.

“We are lucky that we didn’t really break camp after Cosafa and we are pretty much in better shape.

“We all know that we have been out of action for a long time and the Cosafa games really gave us good training, good match fitness and preparation for the AWCON qualifiers and approaching this game, we are really in a good shape,” said Sibanda.

The former Mighty Warriors star has also warned her team against underrating the opponents who have never won a game against the Zimbabweans.

“We put history behind us, yes we have always outdone them but we cannot be complacent. Teams are putting much effort to try and improve. Eswatini have also been in camp for quite some time even before Cosafa as they even played some cup matches in their country so they did much in terms of preparation.

“We acknowledge that they have got their strengths.”

The Mighty Warriors will be without three of their key players including Rutendo Makore, Mavis Chirandu and Talent Makanda.

Makore is nursing an injury while the duo of Makanda and Chirandu have personal commitments.