Zimbabwe marked their return to international football with a victory on day three in the 2023 HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Women’s Championship at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Friday (6 October 2023).
The Mighty Warriors were 1-0 winners over Lesotho in the Group C opener. Privilege Mupeti came off the bench to score her side’s only goal just before the hour-mark in a match that Zimbabwe dominated.
Shadrack Mulauzi’s charges were in might have won by a greater margin with Charitabel Katona guilty of not being clinical in front of goal on two clear occasions in the first half.
Katona could have made it 2-0 with 15 minutes left on the clock but her shot went wide, leaving the match to end with the sole goal.
The Warriors are in first position on the log with three points, ahead of Botswana and Namibia, who drew 1-1 in the second match of the day.
It took only six minutes for the Gladiators to find the back of the net through Millicent Hikuam. The Mares weren’t siting back as Lesego Radiakanyo went on a solo run after 30 minutes to test Queandra Batista, who proved to be up to the task.
Batista was also forced to make a super save soon after when Balothanyi Johannes shot from a tight angle.
The second half didn’t produce a lot of chances for both teams and with the game looking like it was going to end with a Namibia win, Botswana won a set-pieces with 11 minutes to the final whistle.
Captain Kesegofetse Mochawe stepped up and delivered a beauty of an equaliser from outside the box to steal a point for her side.
The tournament moves to the Dobsonville Stadium on Saturday for match day two in Group A where Malawi and Eswatini will meet to play for top spot in the early kick-off (12h00) and South Africa and Madagascar get the opportunity to register their first points in the second fixture at 15h30.
Entrance for fans to all matches will be FREE of charge, with tickets available at the stadium on match day. They are limited to four per person. You can view all of the fixtures here.
If you cannot get to the stadium, you can watch all matches streamed LIVE on FIFA+. Games will also be carried on SuperSport.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS:
Group C – Lucas Moripe Stadium
Zimbabwe 1 (Mupeti 58’) Lesotho 0
Namibia 1 (Hikuam 6’) Botswana 1 (Mochawe 79’)
SATURDAY’S FIXTURES:
Group A – Dobsonville Stadium
Malawi vs Eswatini (KO 12h00; 10h00 GMT)
South Africa vs Madagascar (KO 15h30; 13h30 GMT)
GROUP STANDINGS:
| GROUP A | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| Malawi | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Eswatini | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| South Africa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 0 |
| Madagascar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| GROUP B | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| Angola | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Mozambique | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Zambia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Comoros | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
| GROUP C | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Botswana | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Namibia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lesotho | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
TOURNAMENT STATS:
Matches Played: 6
Goals scored: 18
Biggest victory: Angola 5 Comoros 0 (Group B, October 5)
Most goals in a game: 7 – South Africa 3 Malawi 4 (Group A, October 4)
GOALSCORERS:
3 goals – Temwa Chawinga (Malawi)
1 – Caupe (Angola), Leticia Chinyamula (Malawi), Millicent Hikuam (Namibia), Luvunga (Angola), Sikhanyiso Magagula (Eswatini), Matuvova (Angola), Kesegofetse Mochawe (Botswana), Priviledge Mupeti (Zimbabwe), Tenanile Ngcamphalala (Eswatini), Khesani Nkuna (South Africa), Rina Raharimalala (Madagascar), Sambo (Angola), Sphumelele Shamase (South Africa), Thubelihle Shamase (South Africa)
Own goal – Hadhirami Ali (Comoros)
Source: COSAFA.com
