Poor flames
They say old habits die hard and Malawi National Football Team once again lost concentration in the dying minutes of their TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Burundi to lose 2-3 at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
Twice, the Flames had to come from behind to level against the visitors, only to fail to salvage a point in bizarre circumstances.
When the Flames conceded an own-goal in the 24th minute through Chimwemwe Idana who mistakenly headed past his goalkeeper George Chikooka, it was understandable considering that he was trying to pass back to his Silver Strikers teammate.
The response from Malawi was swift as Zambia-based Chawanangwa Kaonga’s low set-piece levelled the scores in the 30th minute.
But the Burundians, who enjoyed massive support from their Malawi-based compatriots, restored their lead in the 32nd minute through defender Jean-Claude Giramugisha who tapped in a cross to beat the poorly positioned Chikooka.
In the 74th minute, Lanjesi Nkhoma headed home a dipping cross from Kaonga to give Malawi hope of salvaging a point.
But with just five minutes left to play, the Malawi defence committed a kindergarten mistake as poor coordination between Chikooka and his defender Gomezgani Chirwa saw a shot from the defender bouncing off substitute Abedi Bigirimana’s leg into an empty net.
So heart-breaking was the goal that Malawi coach Patrick Mabedi almost dropped a tear, considering that at half-time he had shouted at the defence to wake.
The coach was up in pain in a post-match interview as he described the loss as a heartbreak to Malawians.
He said: “Very bad. The combination was very bad, especially at the back.
“We couldn’t coordinate. We struggled in terms of defence and coordination going forward.
“We didn’t play the way we expected to play. We made errors that cost us the game.”
However, the coach took some positives from the match.
“Looking forward we need to go back and work on our organisation at the back,” he said.
As the Flames fly for Bamako, Mali to their second qualifier against Burkina Faso on Tuesday, Mabedi said they will try to move on.
His Burundian counterpart Etienne Ndayiragije said despite the victory, it was not an easy game.
He said: “The game wasn’t easy. We knew it was going to be difficult. Thank God my boys did it. We managed the pressure. I think we deserved the win. But I think Malawi also deserved something.
“Football is a game of capitalising on mistakes. We pressurised and we knew the can make mistakes.”
Burundi, who lead the group with three points, now shift concentration to Senegal as they host the West Africans in Lilongwe on Monday.
