THE Mighty Warriors face Botswana in their final Group C assignment of the COSAFA Women’s Cup needing just a point to reach the semi-finals.
This match is set for Dobsonville Stadium at 3.30pm.
Zimbabwe are enjoying a 100 percent start to this regional competition having racked in the available six points in their first two assignments.
Moreover, they are banking on their impressive defensive unit which has been impenetrable, so far.
Interestingly, all the departments have equally shared the scoring burden with the goals coming from forward, Rudo Neshamba, defender Nobukhosi Ncube and midfielder Privilege Mupeti.
But, this will all count to nothing should they fail to record at least a point against the Mares today.
Botswana have accumulated four points and they are closely monitoring Zimbabwe and a victory is all they are eyeing in this contest to proceed as group winners.
Zambia and Mozambique shut the door yesterday for any side advance as best losers after wrap-ping up the Group B proceedings with seven points apiece.
Mighty Warriors coach, Shadreck Mlauzi, could not have asked for a better moment to have his skipper and chief striker, Neshamba firing.
Neshamba came out of her shell against Namibia on Monday and led from the front with match-winning moments.
She netted the opener and contributed immensely to the Mighty Warriors’ second goal to down Namibia 2-0.
However, her decent show was not enough for Mlauzi who feels she is still yet to reveal the full package in this tournament.
Mlauzi has backed Neshamba to show the youthful squad the way as they seek to down Botswana in a make or break affair.
“Neshamba was brilliant, she showed why we have trusted her to lead this youthful side. She knows what is expected from her, she has been part of this squad for a long time.
“She was a stand-out performer against Namibia, I was really happy that she was on the score-sheet because as a coach you need your strikers to be scoring at any given time.
“I also feel that she is still yet to show her best, she is someone who is capable of doing more than what we saw that day and we really need her to be at her best when we take on Botswana,” said Mlauzi.
Mlauzi said he is confident that his troops will get the better of Botswana.
“Botswana have shown that they cannot be underrated, they have been very promising in this tournament and we are going to treat this game like a final.
“Our girls are well motivated to do their best and with what I have seen, I’m quite confident that they will get the job done.
“They know what it means if we lose to Botswana and their attitude ahead of this game has been very encouraging,” he said.
Herald
