Scorchers coach Lovemore Fazili believes his charges will this afternoon turn around last Sunday’s defeat as they face hosts Zambia in their second international friendly at Reiz Arena in Lusaka.
The Malawi National Women’s Football Team lost 2-0 in the first match that was played over two days at the weekend due to a heavy downpour and need to dig deeper into their tactical and mental strength to turn the tables.
In a post-match interview on Sunday, Fazili said it was frustrating to lose the first game despite dominating ball possession
“We contained the Zambians, but our major problems were failing to defend the set-pieces and failing to make use of the good chances we created. We learned a lot from the first match and we will do our best to avoid repeating the mistakes we made,” he said.
“We will be back stronger in our second match and we will do our best to make Malawi proud.”
The Scorchers are using the two friendlies to tune up for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) second round qualifiers against the winner between Angola and Zimbabwe later this year.
On the other hand, the Copper Queens’ newly-appointed Swiss coach Nora Hauptle said the implementation of her play style is still work in progress.
“But a win and a clean sheet were a great way to start. We hope to continue from where we left on Sunday, but we expect another tough match because Malawi are a good team with some of the best players on the continent,” she said.
Scorchers captain Tabitha Chawinga concurred with Fazili that the team’s overall performance on Sunday was impressive considering that the team was playing at full strength for the first time in almost five years against a side that has been at the recent Women’s World
Cup and the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) finals as well as the Olympics.
She has since pleaded with the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to keep the team active as that will help maintain the rhythm.
“We have a bright future as a team. All we need is to play matches frequently to gel. The
blending of experienced and up-and-coming players is working out well,” she said.
FAM president Fleetwood Haiya said it is the association’s plan to keep the Scorchers active by always utilising the Fifa window to arrange international games for the national women’s team.
“Indeed, the Scorchers need to play matches regularly if we are to have a competitive edge over our opponents in tournaments,” he said.
