FOLLOWING their victory against Egypt in a friendly match on Tuesday, Mighty Warriors assistant coach, Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda is convinced it will boost the upcoming players’ confidence.

The match marked the beginning of their preparations for the Africa Women Cup of Nations in Cameroon from November 19 to December 3.
Shadreck Mlauzi and his technical team used the game to assess some new players and allow game time to those who have not been featuring regularly for the team.

Among the players who made their maiden appearance on Tuesday is Maud Mafuruse. The 17-year-old scored the opening goal for Zimbabwe and Sibanda feels it will go a long way in boosting the team’s confidence as well as the young players’.

“It’s good that we won. Remember we have been drawn in the same group with Egypt. Now that we are in the same group and bringing out this result it gives confidence really to the players as we go into Cameroon to the Nations Cup.

“But above all a lot of fringe players in the team they gave their best. The objective of the match was not result oriented, the result it’s a bonus now that it’s there. But it’s good that we were able to assess a number of players really. For example the youngest player, Maud she got the first goal in the team. It gives confidence to the player, so it was a good friendly,” said Sibanda.

Sibanda, a former Mighty Warriors midfielder said the match gave them indicators on what they need to correct and their strength as well.

“We picked a lot of positives and a lot of negatives that we need to work on as a team. But above all I think we managed to instil our type of play. The girls could inter-pass the ball which is what we wanted to do, getting them all to get the confidence to pass the ball,” said Sibanda.

Zimbabwe won 2-1.