NED win Copa Coca-Cola national finals
North Education Division (NED) are this year’s Copa Coca-Cola Under-15 champions after beating South East Education Division (Seed) in the finals played at Dedza Stadium on Sunday.
Patrick Luhanga and Abel Mwakilima scored for the Northern Region side to condemn (Seed) to their second running cup final loss and pocket K500 000 (US$1 214) as prize money. Runners-up got K350 000 (US$850).
Last year, Seed lost to Central West Education Division (Cwed).
The road to the finals was just excellent for NED as they easily beat last year’s champions Cwed 2-0 in the semi-finals.
For Seed, they beat South West Education Division (Swed) 2-1 in an all-Southern Region encounter to reach the finals.
Peter Banda from Cwed was voted best player of the tournament, Wezzie Mbera Hudson Milanzie from (Swed), Abel Mwakilima and Henry Misinjo shared the golden boot accolade after each netted three goals.
Sports Minister Grace Chiumia, who watched the finals, said the country has a future in football.
“The abundance of talent we saw today gives us hope for the future. We watched great football and even the foals were well orchestrated. What we need now is to find means of nurturing such talent so that the Flames can benefit,” said Chiumia.
She appealed to other companies to take a leaf from Carlsberg Malawi. Carlsberg Malawi senior Brands (non-alcoholic) Titha Mbilizi described the 2014 Edition as very ‘successful.’
