Scorchers not slowing down

Malawi National Women’s Football Team has vowed to keep goals flowing this afternoon as they wrap up their Cosafa Women’s Championship Group A fixtures with a clash against bottom-placed Madagascar.

The Scorchers, who lead their four-team group with six points after beating hosts South Africa 4-3 and e-Swatini 8-0, have already qualified for the semi-finals as they will still finish on top even if they lose to Madagascar due to head-to-head advantage.

However, coach Lovemore Fazili said in an interview yesterday they need nothing short of a comfortable victory this afternoon to underscore their credentials as title favourites.

He said after beating seven-time winners and African champions Banyana Banyana and registering a thumping victory over e-Swatini, it will be folly to lose to anchors Madagascar or win by a narrow margin.

“The girls are aware that we are returning to serious business tomorrow [today] and there is no room for complacency. Although we are already in the knockout stages, we need to win our last game by the widest margin,” he said.

Scorchers’ stand-in captain China-based striker Temwa Chawinga, who is the tournament’s leading scorer with seven goals from two games, said they are geared to complete their group matches with a great victory.

While Malawi are ranked 159 on Fifa rankings, Madagascar are not ranked and are statistically the weakest team at the 12-team competition.

So far, the two sides have met twice at the Cosafa with Malawi winning 6-3 in 2017 and 2-0 victory in 2018.

Meanwhile, the Malawi national women’s football team head of delegation Chimango Munthali, who is also Football Association of Malawi (FAM) executive member, on Sunday gave the Scorchers a rare treat at the Gold Reef City Theme Park in Johannesburg, South Africa in appreciation for their semi-final qualification.