By Sindiso Dube
Zimbabwe (0) 1 Malawai (0) 0
A solitary goal from speedy forward Talent Bizeki in the 73rd minute saw the Zimbabwe national under-20 women’s team beat Malawi to progress to the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers in which they will face South Africa or Zambia.
The win at Barbourfields yesterday gave the Young Mighty Warriors a 2-1 aggregate victory after they held the Malawians to a one-all draw at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre last week.
Coach Rosemary Mugadza was over the moon after the win.
“I am happy about the win. It was not an easy encounter after missing a lot of chances in the first half which we could have converted,” she told reporters.
“In the second half we came back a more determined side and wanting to score. We were playing long balls that were troublesome to their central defence.
“After the match we played in Malawi we realised that their central defence is slow and they have a compact midfield so we played long balls for our speedy forwards, that was our game plan,” the former Mighty Warriors captain added.
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With an even tougher opposition in the next round, Mugadza pleaded with the football governing body Zifa to ensure that the team has more time to prepare.
“I am happy for the girls that they have gone through to the next stage and we hope the association [Zifa] will help us regroup early so that we jell well with the girls before we face our next opponent, which is between Zambia and South Africa.
“These two teams are serious and prepare very well so we hope that we will be given ample time to camp and prepare for the next encounter,” said Mugadza.
Both teams took turns to come at each other in both halves, playing some beautiful attacking football.
Zimbabwe was making use of its speedy wingers to penetrate the Malawi defence while Malawi preferred to keep the ball in the midfield which was marshalled well by Mhango Yasiman and Gladys Banda.
The Under-20 women’s World Cup will be held in Costa Rica and Panama in August this year.
