Malawi Women’s National Football Team coach Lovemore Fazili says in Thursday’s international friendly against Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses, winning is not their priority, as the focus is on improving the Scorchers’ combinations.
He said this in a briefing before the team’s departure for Casablanca through Chileka International Airport in Blantyre yesterday.
This will be the first time that Malawi will face a North African team and the third time they will be playing against a team within the top-five bracket in strength-testing matches this year ahead of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualifiers’ second-round clash against Angola in October.
Prior to the upcoming clash against Africa’s third-ranked Morocco, the Scorchers, ranked 31st on the continent, took on second-ranked South Africa and fifth-ranked Zambia twice apiece between February and April this year.
Against Zambia’s Copper Queens, the Scorchers lost 2-0 in their first meeting before registering a 3-2 victory in the second match while against South Africa’s Banyana Banyana, they lost both matches 3-0 and 2-1.
“Winning against Morocco will be a bonus because our main aim is not to beat them, but to continue building a good combination of players ahead of the Wafcon final qualifiers,” said Fazili.
“Nevertheless, if we win, that will be a great motivation to the girls because Morocco is one of the strongest teams on the continent just like South Africa and Zambia.”
Meanwhile, the Scorchers’ coach said during the team’s week-long camping, they worked on the weak areas spotted during the friendlies against Zambia and South Africa, citing goalkeeping and defence.
“We have also polished our finishing and the availability of [France-based] top attackers Tabitha Chawinga and Rose Kabzere, who missed the South Africa friendly, is a major boost,” he said.
Chawinga, who is the Scorchers’ captain, said the friendly will be more about gauging their strength.
All the 24 players that were called into camp last week, including five foreign-based stars Chawinga, Kabzere, Georgia-based forward Sabina Thom and Kazakhstan-based striker Vanessa Chikupira and defender Bernadette Mkandawire, have made the trip.
Tabitha’s US-based sister Temwa and Democratic Republic of Congo-based defender Chimwemwe Madise, defender for Democratic have been ruled out due to club commitments.
The Scorchers delegation is being led by National Women’s Football Association chairperson Adellaide Migogo, who is also a Football Association of Malawi executive committee member.
