Rudo Neshamba
| Rudo Neshamba | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 10, 1992 Bulawayo |
| Employer | Real Betis Academy Zimbabwe |
| Known for | Being a footballer |
| Website | www |
Rudo Neshamba is a former Zimbabwean footballer who played as a forward for Israeli Ligat Nashim club FC Ramat HaSharon and the Zimbabwe women's national football team (The Mighty Warriors).
Background
Husband
Rudo Neshamba was married in October 2017. At the time her husband paid lobola, Neshamba was said to be pregnant.[1]
Children
Neshamba has a daughter.[2]
Education
She began her football career at Mgoqo Primary School in Nkulumane 12 in 2004 and two years later, she joined Inline Academy.
After joining the academy, Neshamba travelled to Norway as part of the YES Games team in 2006 and from 2008 up to 2011 she represented Bulawayo at the Zimbabwe National Youth Games.
Neshamba was unable to sit for her Ordinary Level examinations in 2009 when she was a student at Mandwandwe High School due to national team commitments and had to write the following year after moving to Sikhulile High. She attained five passes at “O” Level.
Neshamba is a Level 1 Football Coaching Certificate holder after undergoing training during a Mighty Warriors camp in 2012.[3]
On 29 November 2019, Rudo Neshamba graduated with a Diploma in Journalism and Communication Studies from Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU).[4]
Career
Neshamba is a former Mighty Warriors captain. She was part of the Zimbabwe women's national football team that qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2016 becoming the first football team in Zimbabwe to have qualified for the Olympic Games.[1]
Neshamba began playing football in primary school and joined Inline Academy in 2006. In 2013, the ZNWSL failed to kick off and Neshamba spent six months on loan with Double Action Ladies FC in Botswana, where she scored 14 goals in less than half a season.[3][5]
In 2022, Rudo Neshamba joined Israeli Women’s Premier League football club, Ramat HaSharon on a five-month deal for the 2021-2022 season. Neshamba also played for Harare City Queens in Zimbabwe.[6]
National Team
In 2008, Neshamba made her debut for the Zimbabwe national women's team at the Cosafa Tournament in Angola and in that same year, she helped the national Under-20 girls team win gold at the Zone VI Youth Games in South Africa.
In 2009, Neshamba was part of the Young Mighty Warriors squad that took part in Under-20 World Cup qualifiers and lost to Nigeria in the second round.
In 2010, Neshamba won gold once again at the Zone VI Youth Games that were hosted by Swaziland and in 2011, she graduated to the senior national team and was part of the squad that qualified for the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, after eliminating Zambia and Angola in the qualifiers.
In 2011, Rudo Neshamba won the Cosafa Cup with the Mighty Warriors and went for a two-week training camp in Germany, came second in an invitational tournament in Egypt, and beat South Africa 3-0 to lift the Zimbabwe Unity Cup.
In 2012, she was part of the Mighty Warriors squad that beat Botswana 5-0 to lift the Zimbabwe Unity Cup.[3]
Rudo Neshamba scored three goals in the 2015 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, including two in the decisive win over Cameroon, sealing Zimbabwe's shock qualification for the final tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[7]
Injuries
She had a chronic knee injury, which even affected her at the Rio Olympics. In January 2017, she had surgery on that same knee but could not return to the Zimbabwe women's national football team.[1]
Coaching
On 03 March 2023, Real Betis Academy Zimbabwe announced that Neshamba had joined them as a coach.[8]
Neshamba attended the UEFA Career Transition Programme in Lusaka, Zambia in 2023 and received a Certificate of Attendance.[9]
Awards
After the launch of the Zimbabwe National Women Super League (ZNWSL) in 2012, Neshamba won the Top Goalscorer Award and the Player’s Player of the Year Award at Inline Academy’s awards ceremony after helping the team to a third-place finish.[3] She won the 2018 Iconic African Woman in Football award.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 NESHAMBA MARRIED, PREGNANT, H-Metro, Published: October 10, 2017, Retrieved: April 20, 2022
- ↑ Veronica Gwaze, Balancing pregnancy, school and sport, The Herald, Published: August 29, 2020, Retrieved: April 20, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 SAKHELENE NXUMALO, Neshamba goes back to school, NewsDay, Published: January 22, 2015, Retrieved: April 20, 2022
- ↑ Vincent Masikati, PICS: Soccer Beauty, Rudo Neshamba GRADUATES!, iHarare, Published: November 30, 2019, Retrieved: April 20, 2022
- ↑ Ngqabutho Moyo, Inline Academy restores Bulawayo soccer pride, The Chronicle, Published: July 9, 2014, Retrieved: April 20, 2022
- ↑ Ellina Mhlanga, Rudo Neshamba relishes new challenge, The Herald, Published: January 22, 2022, Retrieved: April 20, 2022
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Veronica Gwaze, Neshamba’s Mighty love, The Sunday Mail, Published: June 3, 2018, Retrieved: April 20, 2022
- ↑ Rudo Neshamba Joins Real Betis Academy, Pindula News, Published: 03 March 2023, Retrieved: 04 March 2023
- ↑ Rudo Neshamba, Facebook, Published 22 May 2023, Retrieved: 24 May 2023
