Young Mighty Warriors ease into next round

Zimbabwe...........................1 Malawi................................0 (Zimbabwe win 2-1 on aggregate)

TALENT scored late in the

BIZEKI second half as Zimbabwe’s Young Mighty Warriors utilised home advantage to overcome a battling Malawi and advance to the next round of the Fifa Under-20 World Cup soccer qualifiers at Barbourfields yesterday.

A 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in Malawi had handed the advantage to Rosemary’s Mugadza’s Young Mighty Warriors ahead of yesterday’s preliminary round game.

Bizeki’s 75th minute strike sealed the tie for Zimbabwe and set them on collision course with Ethiopia.

They might face either South Africa or Botswana in the upcoming rounds.

However, for now, the Young Mighty Warriors can celebrate the fact that they have cleared the Malawi hurdle.

Yet the hosts found the going tough against a stubborn Malawi outfit that was determined to get a positive result.

From the first whistle, the Young Mighty Warriors played the long ball, a tactic that seemed to work. However, the strikers failed to convert the chances that came their way.

Mugadza said they had been aware that things would not be easy for them.

However, she felt that the strikers let down the team.

“From the start, we knew it was not going to be easy. lt’s unfortunate that we failed to utilise the chances that we got during the first half.

“Our strikers let us down but we are happy with the girls’ performance given that we were coming from the festive holidays. We only had three weeks to prepare for this qualifier.

“We are happy that we have gotten past the preliminary round. We are now through to the next round of qualifiers,” said Mugadza.

Malawi’s assistant coach, Kondwani Mwalweni, said: “The game was okay despite the fact that the referee awarded Zimbabwe a goal when there was an infringement before the goal.”

Had their forwards been more clinical, the hosts could have scored more goals.

Dinah Banda got the hosts’ first clear-cut chance in the eighth minute. However, her low effort from inside the box was well saved by Cynthia Mhango.

The visiting goalkeeper produced another brilliant save when she parried a low Valeria Packry strike, six minutes before the break.

Malawi could have gotten their breakthrough in the 30th minute but Zimbabwe goalkeeper Cynthia Shonga was on high alert to deny a Chisomo Banda in a face-to-face situation.

The went to the half-time break deadlocked, which still favoured the Young Mighty Warriors.

After the break, the visitors had a strong start but fluffed the few chances that came their way.

With the fans firmly behind them, Zimbabwe managed to pick themselves up and seized control of the game.

The Fifa Women’s Under-20 World Cup finals will be held in Costa Rica and Panama in August.