Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)2
Angola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0)1
(Angola won 5-4 on penalties)
Zimbabwe'S Mighty Warriors' quest for a second appearance at the CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations has come to a crashing end following a penalty shoot-out defeat to Angola in the penultimate round qualifier at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa yesterday.
The Mighty Warriors needed to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg in Luanda, Angola on Wednesday last week.
Yesterday Zimbabwe could only muster a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture, which left the tie delicately balanced and needing the penalty shoot-out lottery to separate the two sides.
Instead, the Mighty Warriors conspired to disappoint a sizeable legion of Zimbabwean fans, some of who had travelled by bus from the country to go and back them in South Africa.
Angola and not Zimbabwe are now the team that will face Malawi in the final qualification round for a place at the WAFCON, scheduled for Morocco next year.
After failing to protect their 2-0 lead which, for most of the match looked like shepherding them to the next round, penalties followed.
Goalkeeper Lindiwe Magwede, impressive all afternoon, was the unfortunate one as she slid her penalty off target to hand Angola the ticket to face off against Malawi for the right to be at the continental jamboree.
Nobukhosi Ncube, Mavis Chirandu, Daisy Kaitano and Yolanda Kanyai had all kept pressure on the Angolans who were taking the first kick before Magwede failed to keep it level with her last penalty miss.
She seemed to have wilted under the pressure of taking a decisive kick for Zimbabwe.
In any case, the Mighty Warriors should have ended the contest inside regulation time especially after getting to enjoy a 2-0 cushion for the majority of the game.
They have no one to blame after coach Sithethelelwe "Kwinji 15" Sibanda, whose coaching credentials have always been under scrutiny, somehow failed to manage the game, throwing in more firepower by introducing dribblers Natasha Ndowu and Ennety Chemhere, while pulling out her midfield industry including captain Emmaculate Msipa at a time they needed to frustrate the Angolans.
Ethel Chinyerere thrust the Mighty Warriors ahead early in the match and Christabel Katona doubled the advantage in the early stages of the second half.
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The Zimbabweans looked to be well in firm control of the encounter and they could have added at least two more goals to take the game away from their guests.
But two long balls from Magwede were wasted first by Msipa and then by Rutendo Makore.
It was sad to see them losing and crashing out at a time when the new ZIFA executive committee led by Nqobile Magwizi are trying to sanitize the game.
These girls, for the first time in the history of the Mighty Warriors, have been on a financial roll, earning training allowances every day.
But the WAFCON journey is over, thanks to their lackadaisical approach to the game at a time when they looked to be gliding to the decisive round.
Sibanda was disappointed to see the girls crashing out.
"It's tough. I should say it's stressful. We should have done better," Sibanda said.
