THE Zimbabwe senior women's soccer team has put last week's defeat behind them and is now focused on plotting a comeback against Angola in the return leg of the Africa Women's Cup of Nations Qualifier in Pretoria, South Africa, today.
The match is scheduled for this afternoon at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
Head coach Sithethelelwe Sibanda is confident that her team can overturn the deficit and progress to the next round.
"We are trailing in the fixture so the first thing is to make sure that we are psychologically prepared for the return leg because everything else is driven by the psychological preparations of the players," Sibanda said.
"We will try to address the game moments where we made some mistakes so that we come up positive in the return fixture."
Zimbabwe lost the first leg 2-1, meaning they have an ominous task ahead of them. They need to win by at least a clear two-goal margin to advance.
It can be done and it will be done, Sibanda declared.
"I think the most critical aspect was utilising chances in terms of scoring. We did all we could do in terms of getting into the penalty area, but we lacked a bit of composure," she said.
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"I'm hopeful that with what we have done, we are going to be much better. With the positivity everyone is showing in training, we are ready to go and win. The first match was a very physical game, few players picked up knocks but they're not as bad so they will manage."
Team captain Emmaculate Msipa echoed her coach's sentiments, emphasising the need to bury every chance that comes their way.
"We are going to play to the best of our ability and try to utilise every chance we get," Msipa said.
"The marathon is not over, the race is on. We still have 90 minutes plus to get ourselves back in a position of authority, and we are going to do well. We need our supporters, their presence is very important to us. We want them to come and support the Mighty Warriors."
