National Sports

Scorchers eye more goals in decider

Defending champions Malawi Women’s National Football Team eye nothing less than a five-goal margin win over Mauritius in their last Group B match of the 2024 Cosafa Womens Championship in South Africa this afternoon.

The Scorchers coach Lovemore Fazili said in an interview after their 1-0 victory over Madagascar in their second group match on Saturday that a win by a big margin possible is the most ideal result that can boost their chances of progressing to the semi-finals.

Currently, Scorchers, who settled for a one-all draw against leaders Botswana in their opening match, are second on inferior goal-difference in their four-team group following a tie on four-points from two games apiece. Madagascar are third with three points while Mauritius are at the bottom without a point.

Mauritius have so far conceded 10 goals and scored only once in two matches, having lost 5-1 to Madagascar and 5-0 to Botswana.

“We are not underrating Mauritius, but it is necessary for us to beat them by not less than five goals as we meet on Monday to increase our semi-final qualification chances,” Fazili said.

“As defending champions, it will be absurd to be booted out in the group stages and we will do our best to get the best result possible as others have done. There is too much pressure on us because Malawians are expecting us to defend the crown and the only way to neutralise that pressure is to win our next game by many goals.”

He admitted that his charges’ performance against Madagascar “was not all that good”, especially, in the first half and they need to up their game in their next outing.

“We really did not expect  tostruggle the way we did. However, I thank the girls for listening to instructions and improving their performance in the second half despite Madagascar coming hard on us. We need a good fighting spirit plus a well-manicured striking force as we head into our last group fixture,” the coach said.

Scorchers’ striker Asimenye Simwaka, who scored the lone goal in the seventh minute against Madagascar and got the Player of the Match Award, on Sunday said they are determined to execute the coach’s plan.

“The coach has told us to improve our striking prowess and we will do just that,” she said.

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