Front PageNational Sports

Scorchers coach gets started

Scorchers’ coach Lovemore Fazili is planning to call a 40-member provisional squad, including 10 foreign-based players, in preparation for next month’s 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations’ (Wafcon) qualifiers against Congo.

The Malawi Women’s National Football Team coach is also eyeing two friendly matches against either Zimbabwe or Mozambique to tune up for the qualifiers.

Fazili said this in an interview yesterday after completing his preparations for the continental showpiece qualifiers.

He said subject to Football Association of Malawi’s (FAM) approval, the plan is  to start camping on February 2.

The Scorchers, who are 156th on Fifa World Rankings, will face 112th ranked Congo home and away in the qualifiers’ first round scheduled for between February 17 and 26.

If they progress to the second round, they will meet the winner between Angola and Zimbabwe.

“Considering the calibre of teams we are facing in the qualifiers, I believe friendly matches against Zimbabwe or Mozambique would help us get a gist of what to expect during the qualifiers. It is my hope that everything will go according to plan,” Fazili said.

FAM competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka in an interview yesterday said the association’s technical subcommittee will meet to scrutinise the coach’s proposals.

“The FAM technical committee will map the way forward,” he said.

Malawi last competed in Wafcon qualifiers in October 2021 when they were booted out in the first round following a 3-2 aggregate loss to neighbours Zambia.

Malawi last played a competitive match last October when they lost 2-0 to Zambia in the semi-finals of the regional tournament.

The Wafcon campaign comes after one of the Scorchers’ top strikers Temwa Chawinga spoke out her frustrations on lack of support for the team, citing failure to take part in qualifiers for major tournaments.

“As women, we don’t get the same support in terms of resources as men. I had wanted to come and play [in Cosafa Championship], but I didn’t because I was protesting that we don’t take part in Fifa recognised tournaments,” she said.

“Emulate how Zambia is doing it. The women’s team is well-supported and plays in all Fifa tournaments. It should be the same with us as these tournaments offer a platform for exposure. Zambia have a lot of professionals because they get the required exposure.”

Apart from Temwa, Malawi has four other overseas players, her elder sister Tabitha and Rose Kabzere, who are based in France, USA-based Chioma Okafor as well as Kazakhstan-based duo Bernadette Mkandawire and Vanessa Chikupila.

Malawi also has Democratic Republic of Congo-based duo Sabina Thom and Chimwemwe Madise and two in Zambia Ireen Khumalo and Madyina Ngulube as well as Midfielder Mary Chabvinda, who is based in Rwanda.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button