Malawi Under-17 National Football Team coach Enos Chatama says his charges have no pressure going into this afternoon’s Group B Under-17 Cosafa Championship semi-final decider against South Africa.
Malawi face the Amajimbo from noon at Ngoni Mwos Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe and must win to earn automatic qualification into the last-four as group winners.
The tournament is also being used as a qualifier for the 2026 CAF Under-17 Championship with the two finalists punching a ticket to the continental event.
South Africa go into this encounter with a spring in their step, having thrashed Zambia 4-0 in their group opener and Madagascar 5-1 in their second game while Malawi beat Madagascar 3-1 and overcame defending champions Zambia 2-1 in the second match.
A loss or a draw for Malawi will grant South Africa a semis slot as the Amajimbos are currently at the summit of the four-team group courtesy of a superior goal difference following a tie on six points.
South Africa have a goal difference of eight compared to Malawi’s three.
According to the competition’s format, winners of the three groups will qualify for the semi-finals alongside the best runners-up across the groups.
Malawi can still have a chance to progress to the semis as best runners-up if they lose or draw this afternoon, but Chatama believes it would be tricky to bank on that.
He said: “We played Madagascar and Zambia and now we are facing South Africa. Dimension and complexity of the game differ. We have a motive to get to the semi-finals.
“We have seen how South Africa play, they have a very good team.
“They play more of the Spanish football, but we have nothing to lose and we are determined. We will go there and take the game to them and see what happens after 90 minutes.”
If Malawi beat South Africa this afternoon, they will make the Cosafa Under-17 semi-final grade for the eighth time.
Malawi’s recent victory over South Africa in the tournament was a 2-1 win in the 2017 third-place match.
Nevertheless, South Africa have a better record in the competition, having reached the finals eight times, winning it thrice.
Striker Peter Lumbe carries Malawi’s hopes this afternoon, having bagged two player-of-the-match accolades and scored three goals in two games so far to be the competition’s joint second leading scorer alongside Angola’s Paulo Luvumbo. South Africa’s Thandanani Mhlongo leads the chart with four goals.
South Africa coach Vela Khumalo was quoted by the South Africa Football Association website safa.net as having said they also expect a tough match against Malawi, but they are geared for it.
“We are ready and we hope that we are going to give a good account of ourselves. We have motivated the boys and everyone is in a good space.,” he said .
