Mulaudzi faces Akaba as eight Africans eye glory in Belarusian Women's Cup final

Cameroon striker Henrietta Akaba will lead Minsk when they take on South Africa striker Rhoda Mulaudzi's Dinamo-BSUPC in the Belarusian Women's Cup final in the Belarusian capital on Monday.

It is a match which will see the defending champions take on a side which was launched earlier this year.

It will also be their third meeting in all competitions this year, with Dinamo claiming 1-0 at home and 2-1 away victories in the previous two encounters in the ongoing domestic league campaign.

To reach the finals, Minsk eliminated Neman on a 2-0 aggregate semi-final win, while Dinamo bounced out nine-time record winners Bobruichanka after a 12-3 victory on aggregate last month.

Back-to-back defeats to Dinamo have seen Minsk's dominance in Belarus hugely threatened by the emergence of Maleyew Yury's team, who hold a nine-point lead on the league log. 

Ahead of Monday's showdown, Minsk will be without their biggest asset and 2019 Belarus Women's Player of the Year, Emuidzhi Oghiabekhva for the first time since 2016, who left this month.

Besides Nigeria's Oghiabekhva, compatriot Chioma Wogu will also be missing for Minsk, due to injury, but they are now set to unleash their new signing Akaba against Dinamo.

While Akaba will lead Minsk's attack, compatriot defender Alvine Njolle and Cote d'Ivoire midfielder Nadege Cisse will be key in their quest to avoid losing out on the Cup title for the first time since 2013.

On the other hand, Dinamo are aiming to celebrate their first-ever domestic title and also maintain their incredible winning streak of 19 consecutive wins in all competitions this season.

They boast of five Africans in Cameroon's Claudia Dabda along with joint-top scorer Salimata Simpore from Burkina Faso and South Africa trio Rhoda Mulaudzi, Bambanani Mbane, Lebogang Ramalepe.

With head-to-head advantage over Minsk, Dinamo will hope to prove their mettle by ending their rivals' dominance at the Dinamo Stadium.

While Minsk will need to rediscover their winning mentality to derail Dinamo's maiden title dream, as they look destined to lose the race to retain the league crown with six games left to go.

On Monday evening, history will be made as Minsk eye their ninth title to equal Bobruichanka's record, while Dinamo are seeking to become the eight different winner of the competition since 1992.