Malawi U-17 Girls football national team on Thursday lost 4-2 to defending champions and hosts South Africa in a Group B opener of Cosafa Under-17 Girls’ Championship in Johannesburg.
They will face Madagascar in their second match tomorrow before concluding their group fixtures on Monday with a tussle against Namibia in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) tournament.
The Malawian girls appeared nervous in front of South Africa’s home crowd at the UJ AW Muller Stadium in the first half where they trailed 2-0 through Leonay Kock’s 23rd minute strike and Katleho Malebana’s 36th minute penalty following a foul in the box.
During a match monitored on Cosafa TV, Malawi improved their performance in the second stanza where their pressing attacks started to pay off almost immediately as they pulled one back in the 47th minute when Asimenye Mwanyongo sent the South Africa goalkeeper the wrong direction.
But Kock restored South Africa’s two-goal lead in the 70th minute before completing her hat-trick with a simple finish in the 85th minute.
Fatima Lali scored for Malawi in the 88th minute as Linda Kasenda-coached side upped their game, but it was already too late to escape the jaws of defeat.
“We have lost because most of the girls were nervous at the start. As you know, this is the first time they were playing in the foreign land and they needed a bit of time to settle,” said Kasenda.
“The improvements we made in the second half give us confidence of doing better in our next outings.”
This is the second time Malawi is competing in the Cosafa Under-17 tournament.
In their first Cosafa outing in 2022, the Malawi Under-17 girls’ team lost 4-1 to South Africa in their opener before thumping Namibia 12-0 to claim a semifinal place.
Then, they forced neighbours Zambia to a two-all draw in the semi, but lost on post-match penalties. They made up for that disappointment with a 9-0 thrashing of Botswana to take bronze.
