Scorchers’ coach Lovemore Fazili says his charges will go flat out to salvage some pride when they face hosts South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in their second friendly this afternoon at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Johannesburg.
The Malawi National Women’s Football Team suffered a 3-0 defeat in their first meeting played in rainy conditions on Saturday at University of Johannesburg Sports Complex.
But in an interview yesterday, Fazili said he believes they deserve a win this afternoon having studied the hosts’ style of play, their strengths and weaknesses.
The Scorchers are using the games to prepare for their 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) final qualifying round against Angola in October.
“On Saturday, we did not play as expected because we had a lot of challenges up front and some areas in the midfield while The defence and the goalkeeper tried their best. Overall, we had a bad day,” Fazili said.
“However, we learned some lessons and we will rectify the problems ahead of the second game because apart from preparing for Wafcon qualifiers, we are also fighting for better Fifa rankings.”
Scorchers are ranked 154 on Fifa rankings, 100 steps behind Banyana Banyana, who are the reigning Wafcon champions.
The Scorchers are without some of their key players such as France-based strikers Tabitha Chawinga and Rose Kabzere as well as USA-based forward Temwa Chawinga.
The trio did not turn up due to South Africa’s late confirmation of the friendlies.
“Some players are not with us. We will have the best picture of how strong we are when we have a full-house in October,” Fazili said.
Meanwhile, the Scorchers got a boost yesterday after midfielder Asimenye Simwaka joined the team ahead of this afternoon’s match.
The athlete-cum-footballer, missed the first friendly match as she was in Windhoek, Namibia, attending the Continental Athletes’ Forum.
Banyana coach Desiree Ellis was quoted on www.sabcsport.com as having said that her priority in the two friendlies is to build depth in their squad so that there is enough backup should they face challenges with their key players.
