True to her word, indeed, the “Iron Lady” has made strides in changing the face of Zimbabwean women’s soccer.
Her executive has managed to restructure the Mighty Warriors technical team, bringing into the fold former Mighty Warriors defender Rosemary Mugadza at the helm.
Mugadza is head coach with Johannes Chikaula coming in as her assistant. Former Eiffel Flats goalkeeper Nkululeko Dhlamini is goalkeeper’s coach while Charity Munemo is team manager.
Margaret Maulani is team doctor and Gillian Mudzengi is the team’s physiotherapist.All these appointments were effected to allow women football to improve and get maximum support in this country.
When they started the ball rolling, only a handful of supporters attended Mighty Warriors’ matches, which is no longer the case today.
The Mighty Warriors’ performance two weeks ago at Rufaro against Botswana ladies left a legacy. Though the attendance was free, the number of fans that thronged Rufaro almost equalled the number of fans that usually fill the venue when the Warriors are playing. Indeed, the Iron Lady has succeeded in changing the fortunes of women football in this country.
The Mighty Warriors then cemented their resurrection when they managed to beat their bogey side Banyana Banyana in the Cosafa Senior Women tournament held here in Harare last year to lift the cup for the first time in history.
From that day onwards, local football fans started developing interest in women football as the team rides on the poor performance of their male counterparts, the Warriors, who failed to qualify for the continental bi-annual tournament, the Nations cup, currently underway in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
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The Mighty Warriors also qualified for the All-Africa Games finals that were held in Mozambique last year but were unlucky to bow out of the tournament in the preliminary stages after being booted out by South Africa.The Mighty Warriors have been globetrotting, playing friendly matches with high-profile countries such as Germany and Egypt in preparation for the Caf African Woman Championships against Botswana whom they brushed aside with a 3-1 aggregate.
The Mighty Warriors now face African giants Nigeria but have refused to be intimidated this time around. Nigeria beat the Mighty Warriors by an embarrassing scoreline the last time the two nations met both home and away.
The team has unearthed a number of gems in the process. We have the striking partnership of Rufaro Machingura and Rudo Neshamba and likes of Tsitsi Mairosi, who have proved to be true Mighty Warriors.In addition to this sterling performance at international level, the women football committee has for the first time come up with a league in the country.
Ten teams joined the league at its inception and finished the season on a high note.Thumbs up to madam Gumbo and the entire executive for changing the fortunes of women football in Zimbabwe.
Brian Nkiwane
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