Mlauzi rebuilds Mighty Warriors

Sports Reporter RETURNING coach Shadreck Mlauzi has vowed to use the upcoming COSAFA Women’s Championship to gauge progress on the rebuilding exercise of the Mighty Warriors.

Seven years after he led the women’s team to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Mlauzi was thrust back at the helm by ZIFA.

The COSAFA tournament is scheduled for Gauteng, South Africa, between October 4-15.

Zimbabwe will be making a return to the competition after missing the last edition as the country had been suspended from all international football activities by FIFA.

The Mighty Warriors, who are in Group C, will open their campaign with a tie against Lesotho on October 6 at Lucas Moripe Stadium, before taking on Namibia at the same venue two days later.

They will complete their pool games with a clash against Botswana on October 11.

The best runner-up across the three groups in the 12-team competition will also advance to the semi-finals.

Mlauzi overlooked Mighty Warriors veterans who include Rutendo Makore, Felistus Muzongondi and Talent Mukwanda.

“This is an important platform for us to bounce back into the game. Having brought in fresh blood, we are building something for the future,” he said.

“Often at the COSAFA tournament, teams use their fringe players, those who are still emerging and need some exposure, so we have also adopted the same model.”

The tournament, Mlauzi added, would further help to measure individual performances.

The Mighty Warriors yesterday had a friendly match against Legends Academy’s Under-17 side.

“Without exposure, it becomes difficult to throw players into the deep end at major tournaments, so it will take time for our new group to get to the top.

“We need time to hone their skills but with the performance in camp so far, we are in the right direction; they are already improving,” he said.

Mlauzi is currently working with a 25-member squad, with four players expected to be dropped from the travelling party.

The duo of former captain Emmaculate Msipa, who plays for Turkish women’s Super League club Fatih Karagümrük, and Peace Kenende, of South African outfit Coal Wizards, will not be featuring at the tournament.

“We are trying to give the team as much training time as possible, so we will only drop a few players at the last minute.

“Everyone is fit and they appear ready for the challenge, although a lot still needs to be done to get to the level the team was before.”

COSAFA Draw:

Group A: South Africa, Malawi, Madagascar, Eswatini Group B: Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, Comoros Group C: Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana