Front PageNational Sports

Down and out

Malawi’s chances of qualifying for the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) suffered a huge blow after losing 4-0 to Egypt yesterday at Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Lilongwe.

It was an embarrassing result in front of home fans who braved the wet weather to cheer the team.

The result comes after Guinea beat Ethiopia 3-2 on Monday to make it joint top  with Egypt on nine points in Group D.

Malawi now remain with two games against Ethiopia and Guinea.

Yesterday, the Flames failed to use home ground advantage and conceded three goals in 20 minutes.

After just four minutes, midfielder Tarek Mohammed gave the visitors the lead with a thunderous shot from outside the 18-yard box which gave goalkeeer Charles Thom no chance.

Omar Marmoush tapped in the second goal in the 16th minute after a defensive lapse when Dennis Chembezi and Stanley Sanudi, who were visibly jittery to clear a harmless ball.

Yamikani Chester (L) leaves his markers Marmoush (C) and
Hamada during the match

Liverpool forward Mohammed Salah put the match beyond the Flames reach with the third goal in the 20th minute.

Not that the hosts were a complete walkover as they too had moments to score after exposing Egypt defence on several occasions.

In the ninth minute, Chimwemwe Idana, who had replaced the injured Peter Banda combined well with Stein Davie split Egypt defence, but Davie shot over the bar with the goalkeeper drawn off guard.

In the 31st minute, Yamikani Chester missed an opportunity and Frank Gabadinho Mhango also had his moment when his free-kick was fumbled by goalkeeper Mohammed El Shenawy, but no Flames striker took the chance.

Malawi started aggressively in the second half, pressuring the visitors, but the hosts attacking momentum suffered a setback when Egypt made a counter and scored the fourth goal in the 49th minute through Ahmed Mostafa Sayed.

In a postmatch interview, Marinica said: “We need to move on and build on lessons we have lear nt it is not a result we wanted, but it’s the difference in quality. We had five shots on target and they had five.

“They scored four goals and we didn’t score a goal. I am not a quitter and will fight on. We had good patches today and played good football despite not scoring.”

His counterpart Rui Vtiroia,  speaking through a translator,  said: “We were very intelligent today going inside the game. From the first game, we already understood the way Malawi play and we knew what to do. We were good and fast on the ball. Our opponent tried to play the game despite trailing with so many goals. We wish them  good luck,” he said.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button