Story by Lawrence Trusida, Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE finished fourth at the COSAFA Women’s Championship after going down two-nil to Mozambique in the 3rd place play-off at Lucas Moripe stadium in Pretoria, South Africa this Sunday.
The senior women’s team was chasing victory to secure a bronze medal, but defensive blunders cost them the match as they fell two down to a well-structured Mozambique.
Going into the match, head coach Shadreck Mlauzi who returned to the bench after sitting out the last match, made six changes to the starting line-up and also gave a debut to 17-year-old Patience Ndlovu.
However, it was senior players, goalkeeper Lindiwe Magwede, defender Purity Mugayi and holding midfielder Daisy Kaitano who were at fault for the two goals conceded.
Despite this Sunday’s failings, head coach Shadreck Mlauzi was satisfied with the progress the team has made.
“Obviously, we would have loved to end the tournament on a high but it wasn’t to be, all the same, I am still very much proud of the girls. We have made tremendous progress as a team from the day we started camp up to now. We have laid the foundation to build upon and now we need to make sure we continue and also put the correct structures in our league back home to be able to compete here,” said Mlauzi.
Zimbabwe’s loss gave Mozambique their first medal at the COSAFA Women’s Championship.
“This means so much for the people of Mozambique, we have worked so hard to be here and I believe this is a turning point and we can get better from here onwards,” said Mozambique head coach, Luis Fumo.
Meanwhile, funeral services company Zororo-Phumulani together with the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa will host a send-off function for the Mighty Warriors.
