…Flames to battle for third-place
Malawi National Football Team, The Flames, have failed to beat 10-man Lesotho in a Cosafa Cup semi-final match on Friday afternoon.
The Flames have lost 3-0 on post-match penalties after missing all their three penalties while Lesotho made no mistake as they go through to the final of this year’s edition.
The match ended one-all after the regulation time as both sides found their respective goals in the first half with Lesotho netting after 18 minutes into the game before Chawanangwa Kaonga equalising eight minutes later from the spot.
The result means the Flames will be waiting for the loser between South Africa and Zambia , who are playing the second semi-final, to stage the third-place play off.
The Flames were hoping to make history by winning the cup for the first time but that dream has been dashed and interim coach Mabedi has since asked for patience as it was not his side’s day.
“I have to give credit to my players. They did their best and we struggled to penetrate Lesotho defence as they dug deep. We had opportunities too but we missed them. We were not composed enough. Sometimes we need to be patient and not be rushing. But all in all we did all we could. It just wasn’t our day,” Mabedi told The Nation newspaper after the match.
