28 May 2015 03:09
Zimbabwe will be seeking to rewrite the history books when they face Zambia on Sunday in the second leg of the second round of the qualifiers for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
The Mighty Warriors, as the Zimbabweans are nicknamed were 2-1 losers from the first leg in Lusaka last week and face a daunting task against a team gradually carving a niche as their ‘bogey side’ in the return encounter in Harare.
The Zimbabweans were denied by their northern neighbours of a place at the 9th African Women’s Championship (AWC) last October in Namibia, and Rosemary Mugadza’s charges have been presented with yet another opportunity to rewrite the books, this time in the journey for a place at the next year’s Olympics.
The She-polopolo are unperturbed having beaten the Mighty Warriors 1-0 in the last meeting between the two sides to qualify for the AWC for the first time and are poised to confirm their dominance over their neighbours.
Following the narrow win, Zambia Assistant coach, Kape Saili observed that he has to work on the endurance of his charges in their quest to edge their hosts for a place at the penultimate round of the continental qualifiers.
Mugadza is taking no chances and has handed a timely call-up to striker Eunice Chibanda, who last played for the Warriors during a tour of Uruguay in 2013, after a poor outing by her forwards in the previous fixture.
“We are now working with our strike force because if you look at our game in Zambia our defence and midfielders did well but the strikers were not hungry to score.
“We want players who fight for the ball and what I can say is Zambia have the fighting spirit, the moment they lose they regroup and their level of fitness is above us. But, in terms of ball possession, we are better than them and it is only that eagerness that we are lacking as a team,” Mugadza was quoted by national daily, Herald newspaper.
In Machakos, a town located southeast of the capital, Nairobi, the Harambee Starlets of Kenya will be seeking to avenge the painful loss suffered by their male counterparts at the hands of Botswana at the first round of the qualifiers for the African U-23 Championship Senegal 2015.
With a 2-1 loss from the first leg, a lone goal will be enough for the Kenyans, who have received a huge boost following the support of the Government in the build-up to the encounter.
Two-time African champions, Equatorial Guinea are favoured to complete a double over Congo in Malabo and progress to the third round just as South Africa against Gabon in Johannesburg.
The Ghanaian capital, Accra, will be kept alive when Ghana host their Egyptian counterparts in a dicey duel. The first leg in Cairo ended one-all.
Two teams will qualify to represent Africa at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Fixtures
Saturday, 30 May 2015
Kenya vs Botswana (1-2)
Sunday, 31 May 2015
Equatorial Guinea vs Congo (3-0)
South Africa vs Gabon (3-2)
Ghana vs Egypt (1-1)
Zimbabwe vs Zambia (1-2)
Confederation of African Football (CAF) News
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