Malawi Under-20 women and men’s national football teams are out to shrug off fatigue as they set out on their respective Cosafa Under-20 Championship campaigns in Windhoek, Namibia, this afternoon.
The tournament will be part of the Africa Union Sports Council (Ausc) Region 5 Youth Games that rolled into life yesterday.
The women’s Under-20 team, which flew to Namibia yesterday noon through Kamuzu international Airport in Lilongwe yesterday in Team Malawi’s Region 5 second group, are expected to face the hosts this afternoon at University of Namibia Arena.
The men’s football team starts its campaign against Zimbabwe’s Young Warriors at noon in an opening Group A fixture, having arrived at midnight on Wednesday, looking physically drained.
Upon departure yesterday, women’s Under-20 team coach Linda Kasenda admitted that their delay to arrive in Namibia on time will somehow have a negative impact on their performance but that will not be an excuse to lose.
“Prior to our departure, we had four friendly matches against some local clubs that helped us to have a good picture of our shape. We beat Ntopwa and Bangwe Super Queens before winning once and losing once against Walter Nyamilandu Academy,” she said.
“Of course, our departure delays could slightly have an impact on our performance but that will not be an excuse because we have very good players that can easily overcome fatigue.”
In her 18-player squad, Kasenda has included five players that were part of the recent Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers against the Central African Republic, namely, goalkeeper Ireen Sibande, striker Fatima Lali and midfielders Faith Chimzimu, Victoria Mkwala and Talandira Chinyamvula.
She has also considered two youngsters that starred at the 2024 Cosafa Under-17 Girls Championship striker Faluna Umali and midfielder Talandira Kachala.
The men’s team, last made the last four 14 years ago, has never won the regional showpiece but it now out to break the jinx.
Coach Millias Pofera Jegwe said he is optimistic his charges would have recovered by the time they step on to the pitch for the opener against the six-time champions Zimbabwe.
“After a rest in the morning, we will loosen up later today and I hope the boys would have recharged their batteries by then,” he said.
He will bank his hopes of making past the group stages on the quartet of midfielders Mwisho Mhango, Madalitso Safuli and Misheck Billiat and defender Kondwani Tebulo, who have been maintained from the previous edition’s squad.
“We played a number of training matches against local clubs as part of our preparations and the boys didn’t disappoint.
“They are determined and they showed a lot of hunger. Of course, being an international tournament, it will be a different ball game altogether, but we are good to go.”
His Zimbabwe counterpart Simon Marange has included some players that were in the Warriors’ squad at the recent 2025 Cosafa Senior Championship but fall under the under-20 age brackets.
He was quoted by www.herald.com as having said: “This offers us good continuity and experience going into the [Under-20] tournament and, by extension, offers good preparations for Olympics’ qualifiers.”
The Malawi Under-20 men team’s next assignment will be against Angola on Sunday before winding up their group fixtures against the hosts on Tuesday while the women’s team will next face Botswana on Sunday.
Apart from football, Malawi will at the games compete in 13 other sports codes, namely, basketball, volleyball, netball, boxing, karate, judo, lawn tennis, table tennis, swimming, athletics, Para-athletics, Special Olympics and E-sport.
The team comprises 165 athletes and 37 officials, including coaches and team managers, who are expected to fight for medals against 10 other teams until July 14.
In the last edition that the country hosted in 2022, Team Malawi won 44 medals, an improvement from 29 won in the previous edition.
