Malawi Under-17 National Football Team’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the 2025 Cosafa Under-17 Championship were dashed yesterday after a 4-1 defeat to South Africa’s Amajimbos in their decisive Group B match at Ngoni Mwos Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The Junior Flames went into the contest on six points following victories over Zambia and Madagascar, knowing that only a straight win would secure their place in the last four.
But South Africa, who have looked a class apart throughout the tournament, proved too strong and completed a routing of all other teams in the group and finished the group unbeaten with maximum nine points.
Malawi, on the other hand, failed even to scrape through as best runners-up with six points.
After brilliant displays in victories over Madagascar and Zambia, Malawi did not come to the party.
Instead, they looked out of sorts and South Africa’s Amajimbos simply capitalised on Malawi’s defensive frailties.
In the 25th minute, Malawi’s defence went to sleep and allowed a dipping ball into the penalty area where striker Inganathi Sinama was quick to react, rifling home a first-time finish past Malawi goalkeeper Jacob Banda to give his side the lead.
Malawi tried to respond through forward James Lumbe and Okester Kanyenda and Joel Yakobe, but they struggled to find rhythm in the final third, with South Africa’s backline standing firm.
Then Mpho Molepo doubled Amajimbos’ lead in the 54th minute from a rebound after Malawi cleared the ball on the line.
The South Africans were at it again through Sinama who made it 3-0 in the 64th minute when Malawi’s defence failed yet again failed to clear the ball.
The forward once again latched onto the delivery and smashed the ball past Banda to register a brace.
Malawi pulled one back in the 81st minute through substitute Eli Randles. It had to take minutes before VAR confirmed the consolation for Malawi.
But South Africa restored the three-goal gap, wrapping up the day with the fourth goal in the 90th minute through Ntokozo Madondo.
In a post-match interview, head coach Enos Chatama lamented over his charges’ failure to stick to the game plan.
He said: “We couldn’t match the South Africans today. We started slowly. The South Africans pinned us in our half because what we told the boys before the game, they never did it rightly.
“We fought to press them in their own half. We failed to keep the ball in the middle of the pitch. They scored a goal during the run of play, whereby the boys failed to stop the cross. South Africans are good at passing.
“We sat deep. We never had to catch the ball on the play. They scored the first goal. We told the boys to concentrate. They concentrated, but you saw how our boys were playing. They lacked quality. South Africans were more aggressive. They were first on the ball. We were too slow in reaction.
“They were there on top of us. They have beaten all the teams in the group. We wish them all the best in the coming game.”
But Chatama said there will be time to reflect on the mistakes and learn from them.
