Malawi Under-23 National Football Team coach Bob Mpinganjira says all is not lost after the 0-1 home loss to Eswatini in the first leg of the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) on Tuesday.
The defeat at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe means Malawi must win the return leg scheduled for next Tuesday to progress to the next round.
In a post-match interview, Bob attributed the loss to missed chances and the unavailability of some players due to lack of passports.
He said: “We failed to make good use of the chances we created and in the end, we were punished for our wastefulness.
“The other factor was that some players could not feature because on the day of the match, we had
missed chances. | Courtesy of FAM
not secured their passports, which is condition for this tournament.”
Bob also said that initially, they were made to believe that players born in 2004 would be eligible for the tournament.
He said: “But we learnt later on that those eligible would be those born in 2005 going forward. So, all these factors affected us.
“But all is not lost. We will go back to the drawing board and work on our shortfalls. We will also encourage the players not to give up as this was only the first leg and we have another one coming up next Tuesday.”
Reacting to the defeat, Football Association of Malawi president Fleetwood Haiya said: “Today, our Under 23 side registered a narrow 0-1 loss to Eswatini.
“It was a game that the Junior Flames stamped their authority in terms of possession, but lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
“Hard luck to the boys as they prepare for the return leg early October. Let us use the lessons learnt as a launching pad for a possible victory away from home.
“Let us keep working hard. We keep on believing in the project.”
