Liberia Women’s Division champions Determine Girls have commenced preparation ahead of their departure to Cape Verde for the WAFU A Zonal Qualifiers for the maiden CAF Women’s Champions League.
The team moved to camp in Margibi County over the weekend and completed their first-morning training session on Monday at SKD Mini-stadium in Paynesville.
Coach Robertson Warner received a timely injury boost as right-back Marie Flomo returned to the group after several months out of the squad due to injury.
Guinea duo, Hawa Conteh and Bountou Sylla are expected to join the squad later when they return from their short vacation. South Sudan’s women’s national team captain Amy Lasu, who is expected to complete her move to the Liberian champions this summer, is also expected to join the squad on camp before their departure to Cape Verde.
The team’s preparation comes after a month of rest, which was necessary for players after the close of the 2020/21 league season.
Four Champion teams from Liberia, Cape Verde, Senegal, and Mali will participate in the WAFU A zonal qualifiers.
The mini qualification tournament which will run from July 24-30, 2021 in the city of Sao Vicente, will be played in a round-robin (all-play-all) format with the group winners qualifying for the finals in Egypt.
Sao Vicente is one of the Barlavento islands, the northern group within the Cape Verde archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, off the West African coast.
The draw for the tournament will be held on July 23, in Cape Verde.
Seven Stars FC of Cape Verde, AS Mande of Mali, and AS Dakar of Senegal, are the three other teams that will participate in the tournament.
Elsewhere, WAFU B on Monday, July 5, hosted the first Zonal draw that saw six women’s football clubs from Togo, Niger, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Nigeria paired into two groups.
The top two teams from each of the groups will progress to the last four with the winners of the qualifying tournament booking their ticket to Egypt.
OnzeSoeurs de Gagnoa (Cote d’Ivoire), Union Sportive des forces Armees (Burkina Faso) and Amis du Monde Football Club (Togo) were paired in Group A, Nigerian champions Rivers Angels Football Club, Ghana double champions Hasaacas Ladies FC and Association Sportive de la police (Niger) complete the Group B pairing.
Cote d’Ivoire was selected as the host country for the WAFU B qualifiers that will run from July 17-30, 2021.
Other Zonal Draws, according to CAF will also be hosted this week.
On Wednesday, July 7, 2021, UNAF will host their draw with participating clubs coming from Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. (Egypt, as the host nation for the final tournament of the Women’s Champions League, gets automatic qualification.)
CECAFA will also host their draw on July 7. The participating countries include Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zanzibar.
CAF says the tournament will help promote women’s football and increase the number of participants and professionalism in the game.
Seven teams will qualify for the final tournament through the zonal qualifiers in addition to the champion club from the host country.
