Flames assistant coach Peter ‘Mjojo’ Mponda says they have not given up hope on qualifying for the Cosafa Cup semi-finals although the odds are stacked against them.
The former Malawi National Football Team captain still believes in cold comfort that they can miraculously qualify if they beat holders Angola’s Palancas Negras in their last Group B fixture this evening in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Malawi need to beat Angola, who lead the group with four points, by at least a four-goal margin to have a realistic chance of sneaking through.
give up hope. | Courtesy of Fam
But even that will not be enough as their chances are dependent on the result of the group’s other fixture between Lesotho’s Likuena and Namibia’s Brave Warriors.
The Flames anchor the four-team group with a point from two matches while Lesotho are second with three points and Namibia are third with two points.
In an interview yesterday, Mponda said: “The harsh reality is that our chances are very slim, but that doesn’t mean that we should give up just like that.
“We need to fight for a good margin win against Angola and then see what happens in the other game.
“A very tight situation for us, but not beyond possibility. We have to try and give it our all.” He said he believes that if the Flames play as they did against Namibia, they could get something out of today’s showdown.
“Our performance [against Namibia] was good, very encouraging, but we couldn’t take our chances. That’s something we have to build on.”
Angola thrashed Lesotho 4-0 on Sunday, the same side that the Flames lost 1-0 to in their opening fixture on Thursday before playing out a goalless draw against Namibia on Sunday.
While the likes of Chikumbutso Salima, Wisdom Mpinganjira and Gaddie Chirwa have stood out for Malawi, the man the Flames should keep an eye on this evening is Depu, who scored a hat-trick for Angola against Lesotho.
Angola coach Pedro Goncalves said they respect the Flames.
He said: “We respect Malawi just like the other teams in the group. We beat Lesotho who beat Malawi, but that doesn’t mean we’ll have it easy against Malawi. It doesn’t work that way in football.
“So, we will see. But we are prepared and we’ll do all we can to beat Malawi.”
According to statistics, Malawi and Angola have met seven times in which the Flames have won once with the Palancas Negras winning three while the rest ended in draws.
The last time they met was in the same tournament in 2018 which ended goalless.
