Mighty Warriors goalkeeper Cynthia Shonga won the Golden Glove award at the COSAFA Women’s Championship which ended in South Africa on Sunday, 15 October.
The Golden Glove is an award given to the best goalkeeper based on his or her performance and contributions throughout the tournament.
The 23-year-old Harare City goalkeeper won the award despite coach Shadreck Mlauzi’s decision to start Lindiwe Magwede in goal for the third-place play-off final against Mozambique at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday.
The Herald reported that Shonga conceded just two goals in four games. She kept two clean sheets in the opening two games against Lesotho and Namibia and conceded a goal in the last group match against Botswana which ended 1-1.
Shonga then conceded another goal in the 1-0 semi-final defeat to Zambia before Magwede was selected for the match against Mozambique yesterday.Speaking after receiving the award, Shonga, who also won the same accolade in the Under-20 COSAFA Championships in Port Elizabeth four years ago, said:
I am extremely happy after winning this accolade. I also won this gong in 2019 when we played in the Under-20 COSAFA tournament.
Then, just like now, we finished fourth in the tournament.
I would like to salute everyone in the squad right from the technical team to the fans.
This prize is for the team. Every player in our squad deserves a share of the prize.
The girls really put on the work only that we are disappointed by the fact that we failed to win any medal as a team.
But look at where we are coming from. The future is looking very bright.
Meanwhile, the Mighty Warriors finished fourth in the tournament after losing 2-0 to Mozambique in the third-place play-off final.
Source: Pindula
