Copper Queens and Mighty Warriors renew rivalry
By Moses Mwanza | August 28, 2019
The Zambia Women National Team will this afternoon take on Zimbabwe in the second round the first leg of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifier match slated for Lusaka’s Nkoloma Stadium.
The Coach Bruce Mwape drilled side will be banking on the services of the two foreign-based duo of Skipper Misozi Zulu and Rachael Kundananji who ply their trade in Kazakhstan for UEFA Women’s Champions League campaigning side BIIK Kurzgurt for goals upfront as well as Red hot and free-scoring striker Racheal Nachula who scored a record 10 goals at the recent COSAFA Women’s Championship which was held in South Africa.
Judy Zulu, Rhoda Chileshe, and Mary Mwakapila are likely to take charge of the business in the midfield. Zulu will be providing cover in front of the back four with Chileshe stringing in passes and feeding the strikers with balls while Mwakapila will add some creativity to the party in making sure the Warriors midfielders are not given chance.
Green Buffaloes trio of Martha Tembo on the left-back, Agnes Musesa could make a return from her injury at the heart of defense partnering with her teammate Anita Mulenga alongside Red Arrows’ right back Margaret Belemu to complete the backline in making sure they don’t give chance to the likes of Rudo Neshamba, Shamiso Mutasa and tricky Emaculate Msipa who will be very hungry for goals.
Hazel Nali is obviously going to be in between the sticks for the Copper Queens.
The last time these two countries met was last year in an Africa Women Cup of Nations Qualifier with the first leg ending 1-Nil in favor of Zimbabwe before the Copper Queens overturned the tables and triumphed 2-1 away in that country and Coach Bruce Mwape could be hoping to carry on from there though he knows it won’t be easy and has called on his players to take the game very seriously as The Mighty Warriors is a very strong side.
On the other hand, Warriors coach Sithethelelwe Sibanda is optimistic of a positive result today and she will be counting on her dangerous midfielder from Black Rhinos Emmaculate Msipa who was a marvel to watch in South Africa together with Mavis Chiranda and Rudo Neshamba from Harare City upfront who helped the team to settle for Bronze Medals after emerging 3rd at the recent COSAFA Women’s Championship.
Chido Dzingirai is expected to start in goal and providing cover at the back could be the likes of Nobukhosi Ncube, Sheila Makoto, Lynett Mutokuto and Nobuhle Majika.
Other notable players to watch out for are Shamiso Mutasa and Majory Nyaumwe.
The Mighty Warriors will host The Copper Queens on Sunday 1st September 2019 at the National Sports Stadium to determine who progresses to the next round.
The winner over the two legs will face either South Africa or Botswana in the next stage, with one of Gabon, Ghana, Malawi or Kenya waiting after that. Only one team from Africa will automatically qualify for the Olympics, with another facing a play-off match against a South American side Chile to also book their spot in Tokyo.
Charges for this match has been pegged at k10 Open Wing While VIP Is Fetching at k50 and Tickets are on sale via Computicket across. School children in uniforms will be allowed to enter for free in the stadium.
Kick-Off for this match is 15:00hrs hours at Nkoloma Stadium.