HEADLINE-MAKERS Zenatha Coleman of Namibia and Barbra Banda of Zambia will go head to head when their nations renew rivalries at the Cosafa Women’s Championship in Gqeberha, South Africa, today.
The Brave Gladiators are boosted by news that star player Coleman has gone back on her decision not to play in the competition over her continued friction with the Namibia Football Association.
Her inclusion will improve the Gladiators’ chances of causing an upset against the 2023 Fifa World Cup-bound Copper Queens, who pipped their Namibian rivals to a spot at the recent Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The Gladiators will hope Coleman can replicate the form that saw her score five times to lead Namibia to a 5-2 aggregate victory over defending Cosafa champions Tanzania in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Namibia have a score to settle with the formidable Queens, who beat them 3-0 at the regional competition last year, followed by a 1-0 aggregate win in the Wafcon qualifiers earlier this year.
Zambia managed to nullify Coleman’s lethal threat by double-marking her during the two-legged qualifiers. She was unfortunately not available for Cosafa selection last year due to club commitments.
Similarly, Zambian captain Barbra Banda was absent from Cosafa 2021, and is back in the team after missing the continental showpiece in Morocco, reportedly due to a controversial gender eligibility issue.
The China-based forward’s testosterone levels were deemed to be above those allowed by the Confederation of African Football for the tournament.
It is unclear whether Cosafa applies the same rule.
Banda (23) broke out as an international star at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, scoring back-to-back hat tricks in games against the Netherlands and China in group play.
The Cosafa Women’s Championships got underway yesterday with Group A action, as Mozambique thrashed Mauritius 5-0 and South Africa, who host Brazil in a friendly on Friday, cruised past Angola with a 2-0 win.
Group B gets kicks off this morning, when Lesotho tackle Eswatini before Namibia and Zambia do battle in the afternoon.
Group C also gets going today, with holders Tanzania playing Comoros in the early kick off, before Botswana take on Malawi later.
The pool stages continue until 7 September, with the semi-finals two days later when the winner of Group B play the top team in Group C, while the victor in Group A takes on the best-placed runner-up.