Scorchers coach Lovemore Fazili says he believes his charges have what it takes to overcome Morocco’s Lionesses when the two sides clash in an international friendly on June19 in Casablanca.
In an interview after regrouping at Mpira Village in Chiwembe Township in Blantyre on Monday, Fazili said all the players he called into camp, including five foreign-based ones, namely Rose Kabzere and captain Tabitha Chawinga who play in France, Georgia-based forward Sabina Thom and Kazakhstan-based duo of attacker Vanessa Chikupira and defender Bernadette Mkandawire, have all confirmed their availability.
He said: “Everything is okay and players are responding well. We have all the local players that we called into camp except midfielder Asimenye Simwaka, who travelled outside the country for other duties, but she will join us on Friday [today].
“The friendly match against Morocco will give us a good test ahead of the Angola match and we are very hopeful that by the time will be playing our qualifier, we will have prepared well and there won’t be excuses.”
Meanwhile, Fazili on Tuesday got a boost following the arrival of Kabzere.
The Montpellier women’s football team star is the first foreign-based player to have honoured her call-up among the five foreign-based players that have been named in the squad.
The 2022 Cosafa Under-17 Girls’ Championship top-scorer, who took part in Wednesday morning’s training session, said she was excited to join the squad.
“I am very excited to have joined the national team. It always makes me proud to fight for my country and I am ready to don the national flag,” Kabzere said.
Meanwhile, Tabitha is expected to join the team at Mpira Village today while Chikupira and Mkandawire will fly straight to Morocco.
Scorchers, who are expected to leave for Morocco on Monday, will miss the services of defender Chimwemwe Madise and Temwa Chawinga due to club commitments.
Malawi want to use friendly in preparations for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualifiers’ second-round clash against Angola in October after qualifying for the second round following their opponents, Congo Brazzaville, withdrew from the competition.
The international friendly will be Malawi’s fifth in 2025 as they also played against Zambia and South Africa twice each February and April, respectively.
In February, the Scorchers lost 2-0 to Zambia’s Copper Queens in their first match before registering 3-2 victory in the second match.
They also lost to South Africa twice 3-0 and 2-1 in April.
