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Sports Reporter

THE Mighty Warriors’ chances of progressing to the semi-finals of the COSAFA Women Championships are now slim after they went down 0-1 to Tanzania yesterday.

This was their Group C opening encounter at Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

Zimbabwe played second fiddle to their opponents, who enjoyed better possession and created several chances, with Kadosho Shekigenda’s header from a corner kick in the 60th minute, securing them a victory.

The Mighty Warriors lost their captain, Emmaculate Msipa, in the 74th minute when she was sent off for a second bookable offence.

With Group winners, and the best runner-up across the three Groups, advancing into the last four, the Mighty Warriors have a tough task to turn the tables in their favour after yesterday’s defeat.

They need to win their last Group game against Botswana with a big margin to, at least, have chance of progressing.

Based on yesterday’s showing, in which they largely played second fiddle to Tanzania, failing to keep the ball most of the time, they need to up their game.

Mighty Warriors striker Rutendo Makore, coming from a self-imposed break, still needs to find her rhythm that saw her winning the Golden Boot at the 2017 edition in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe were caught napping when Shekigenda was left unmarked, inside the box, and headed the ball home from a corner kick. It was all Tanzania needed to collect their first full set of points having had the upper hand most of the time.

The result between Tanzania and Botswana, which are set to clash on Saturday, will also determine Zimbabwe’s fate.

Coach Sithethelelwe Sibanda said they lost to a better side.

“I would like to say it was a great game, we had a good start. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of chances, we didn’t utilise our chances.

“But, it’s about rust among the players, at the end of the day, physically and tactically, I would say they gave it their all.

“We lost shape after that red card and we were now always defending,” said Sibanda.

Teams

Zimbabwe: C. Shonga, N. Ncube, S. Makoto, T. Mukwanda, E. Tumbare, D. Bhobho, E. Msipa, S. Dambamuromo, M. Chirandu, T. Bizeki (S. Mutasa 48th min), R. Makore.

Tanzania: N. Abass Idria, J. Christopher, S. Abadallah, J. Singano, A. Antony Katunzi, E. Kasonga, H. Hensron Mwaipaja, K. Shekigenda, A. Alli Bilali, M. Omari Shurua, O. Clement.