England-based footballer Moddy Muwoni has expressed delight over the recent call up into the Mighty Warriors squad for the 2016 Women Africa Cup of Nations set for Cameroon in November.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
Following a dismal performance at the Rio Olympics last month, Mighty Warriors coach Shadreck Mlauzi has cast his net wide and named two foreign-based players Muwoni and Palesa Chipendo, for last week’s international friendly match against Egypt.
However, due to logistical challenges, the pair failed to turn up for the friendly.
Standardsport last week caught up with the 18-year-old Muwoni, who expressed gratitude over the national team call up.
The former Gloucestershire County and Doncaster Belles midfielder-cum-winger, said she was even prepared to meet her own travelling costs.
“I’m excited about playing football for my country. I want to go to the Africa Cup of Nations,” she said. “All I want to know are the dates and see if I can have money for my air fares, since I am paying for it myself. If I can’t, I’m sure my dad will help me.”
Muwoni, who lives in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire said it was always her dream to don the national team jersey. “When I found out that Zimbabwe had a women’s team, I told my dad I could play for them and he reckoned I could as well,” she said.
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“I communicated with coach Mlauzi after the Rio Olympics, telling him that I was interested in playing for the team and he was willing to give me a chance.”
Muwoni, who plays for the University College of Birmingham (UCB) women’s team was born in Chegutu in 1997 where she stayed in Hintonville.
She left the country in 2007 when she was nine years old.
“I have two brothers Tendai and Obert. I used to hang around with them and their friends, so whenever they played football I would just join in. We started off playing at home, but occasionally we would go to Chestgate in Chegutu to play. I think I was five and I loved it from that point,” she said.
She said there was no girls football at Hartley Primary School where she learnt before she moved to the UK. It was at Barnwood Church of England Primary School in Gloucestershire that she became part of the girls’ soccer team for the first time.
She said when she was growing up, there were no female footballers to idolise.
“I used to watch Cristiano Ronaldo most of the time and I wanted to be like him. I even got my first football top with his name on it. I always saw myself playing football whether it was on television, or just ordinary games, but I knew that it was something that I would do till I got old,” she said.
Muwoni has since stopped playing for Doncaster Belles where she had established herself as a top player to concentrate on her studies. She recently joined the UCB ladies team in Birmingham where she is studying Business and Hospitality Management.
Muwoni is the fifth child in a family of six and her eldest brother Tendai used to play for Sheffield United Academy.
