Zimbabwe Women’s National Football Team coach Stella Gotal says it will not be easy to face the Scorchers of Malawi following their opponents’ success at the WAFCON.

Gotal said the Mighty Warriors of Zimbabwe are doing almost everything, from defence and midfield to attack and set pieces, to suffocate Malawi.

The two teams will face off in the CAF Olympic qualifiers, with the first match scheduled for Friday at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi, before the return leg on October 13 at the National Sports Stadium in Harare.

Gotal said they have great respect for Malawi but are doing everything possible to secure positive results.

“We respect Malawi because we know they played in the final of the Wafcon; they played a historical success. We know it will not be easy playing both away and also at home,” she said.

Speaking about how she has prepared her charges, Gotal emphasised that the focus is on strong ball possession, sharp defensive-to-offensive transitions and solid set-piece execution.

“I am happy with the team that we have at the moment here. Everyone is really motivated; everyone is excited. We have been preparing since September 27.

“We worked a lot on how we want to behave in certain moments of the game, when we are out of the ball possession and in possession, and how to behave in certain moments like transitions from defence to attack and from attack to defence, segments like set pieces, corner kicks, free kicks because we want our team to be ready for anything,” she concluded.

Having reached the WAFCON final for the first time, Malawi will also be targeting a ticket to the Los Angeles Olympic Games.