Boost for Mighty Warriors

THE duo of Berita Kabwe and Emmaculate Msipa arrived in the country yesterday ahead of the Mighty Warriors’ clash against Botswana on Friday in the first leg of the last qualifying round of the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) at the National Sports Stadium.

The second leg will be played in Botswana five days later.

Kabwe skipper Msipa arrived after Tanzanian-based Danai Bhobho and Rudo Neshamba, who plays for the Israeli Women’s Premier League club, Ramat HaSharon had joined camp.

Mighty Warriors team manager Tafadzwa Bhasera paid tribute to the government for the support in the run-up to the qualifiers.

“The morale is always amazing. The girls are expectant in spite of the long break,” Bhasera said.

“We are appreciating the effort being put by government to ease the pressure and to make the girls comfortable and realise their dream of qualifying to AWCON.”

“Things have never been this smooth, we appreciate the effort,” she said.

The team went into camp last week with the government taking care of all expenses. The Mighty Warriors are close to securing a slot at the tournament scheduled for July in Morroco following their 6-1 aggregate win over eSwatini last year in their fist qualifying round. The team’s encounter against Botswana will be the last qualifying round for the upcoming continental showpiece.

The arrival of the foreignbased players is a boost for the team since they are currently active in their respective clubs unlike the locally-based players who are still on break.