Goshen City founder and visionnaire Prophet Shepherd Bushiri says they will support Kukoma Ntopwa Women’s campaign at the Cosafa qualifier for CAF Women’s Club Champions League in South Africa later this year.
He said this on Saturday at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre after Kukoma Ntopwa won the Goshen-FAM National Women’s Championship for the second time with a 4-3 post-match penalty shootout victory in the final following a one-all draw in regulation time.
National champions automatically qualify for Cosafa Champions League.
“We are extremely excited to witness what has just happened here because this is a vision and it will always be Goshen City’s wish to promote talent and our biggest mission is to export this talent,” said Bushiri, whose Goshen City has been co-sponsoring the national championship for the past two editions alongside Football Association of Malawi (FAM).
“Winners of this trophy will be going out to play in South Africa and we are even more willing to sponsor them to ensure women’s football talent is promoted and exported.”
The preacher of the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) Jesus Nation Church said it is a milestone to be part of women’s football development in the country and they will continue to sponsor the national championship.
“This is a great initiative and we believe we are the first to support such type of talent through the women’s league. We will discuss with FAM to make sure we continue with this project. We will also look at men’s football,” he said.
FAM president Fleetwood Haiya said it was encouraging to note that the Goshen-FAM regional and national championships continue to unearth and polish women’s football talent in the country.
He also urged the corporate world and organisations to join FAM and Goshen City in promoting women’s football, which has a great potential of making the country proud at continental and global competitions.
“Special thanks to Prophet Bushiri for the financial investment into the tournament. With the support, we have made significant steps in developing women’s football. We hope others will also see the potential that women’s football has,” the FAM president said.
National Women’s Football Association chairperson Adelaide Migogo said the fact that there were a lot of surprises in this year’s edition proves women’s football is growing fast in the country.
The latest edition saw minnows Mzuzu-based Topik Sisters finishing in the top-four and Blantyre giants FCB Nyasa Bullets Women failing to get past the quarter-final stage.
In the final, Ntopwa drew first blood in the 15th minute through Kondawu Banda, the eventual Player of the Tournament, before Ireen Khumalo drew level for Silver Ladies from a direct free-kick six minutes to time.
Khumalo was red-carded after taking off her shirt in celebration of her goal, subsequently reducing her team to 10 players. This was her second bookable offence.
Midway through the match, it rained heavily but the quality of action on the pitch remained catchy and entertaining.
When it came to the dreaded post-match penalties, Silver Ladies missed twice while Ntopwa flopped once to eventually win the title and relive their experience in the 2022 edition when they triumphed 5-3 over Ascent Academy on spot-kicks after full-time ended 1-1.
Ntopwa coach Isaac Jomo Osman, whose team received K9 million first prize, said: “This is unbelievable. It is exciting to be back as champions and flag carriers at the Cosafa Champions League.”
Silver Ladies coach Andrew ‘Aluki’ Chikhosi hailed his charges for putting up a gallant fight, saying it was just unfortunate that they missed the opportunity of becoming Goshen national champions for the first time.
Previous champions Ascent Academy finished third after thrashing Topik Sisters 6-0 in third-placed match with Faith Chimzimu hitting a hat-trick to win the golden boot with a total of six goals. Leticia Chinyamula, Marriam Mnenula and Fatima Lali scored the other goals.
