Zambia (1) (2)
Zimbabwe (2) (3)
(Zimbabwe qualify on a 4-2 aggregate win)
Zimbabwe senior women’s team the Mighty Warriors have progressed to the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations after a dazzling performance in which they beat host Zambia at the Nkoloma stadium.
By Elia Ntali
The Mighty Warriors entered the match carrying a slender 1-0 win courtesy of a Kudakwashe Basopo strike on Wednesday.
It was Basopo again who stunned the host when she opened the scoring in the seventh minute however, Zambia’s Shepolopolo responded well after 23 minutes when Noria Sosala scored a cracker to level the scores.
Zimbabwe regained the lead in the 36th minute when Samukeliso Zulu beat goalkeeper Hazel Nali on the near post.
After the breather the tempo changed with the host in a hurry to get goals and they were appropriately rewarded when Lynette Mutokuto handled in the box and the referee pointed to the spot which was confidently converted by Misozi Zulu to level matters at 2-2.
The Mighty Warriors had other ideas as they shut the hosts’ hopes of any comeback when Emmaculate Msipa from a goal mouth melee blasted the ball home to send the visitors into wild celebrations as they booked a place at the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations to be hosted by Cameroon in November.
After the match the losing coach Albert Kachinga expressed disappointment for failing to qualify for the tournament.
“I am disappointed that we have failed to qualify to the championship, we have to go back to the basics and start afresh to prepare for the next tournament,” said a dejected Kachinga.
On the other hand Might Warriors coach Shadreck Mlauzi expressed happiness with the qualification having sailed through to both the Olympic Games and Africa Cup.
“I am very happy with the result especially that we have made it for the Olympics and now for the Africa Cup. It was a 50-50 affair but what matters is that we have won and qualified for the competition,” he said.
The Mighty Warriors are expected back home this afternoon.
