Zeliat Nkhoma was the hero of the day as his powerful late header inspired the Malawi National Football Team to a hard-fought, but important 1-0 victory over South Africa on Saturday afternoon at Bingu National Stadium in the first leg of the final qualifiers in the CHAN competition.
After scoring four goals in their African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers two-legged match against Egypt, South had an off-afternoon in Lilongwe and failed to register a shot on target for the entire match – and were left aghast as Nkhoma headed home a superb cross from Wisdom Mpinganjira, with just three minutes to stoppage time.
Mpinganjira should have put the Flames ahead after 25 minutes when he found room to shoot inside the box, but his attempt went straight into the palms of South African goalkeeper Mondli Mpoto.
That was just the shot on target in the entire first half from either side. For a long time, the only other opportunity came in the 64th minute, when Alick Lungu’s volley from range was tipped over the bar by Mpoto.
The final 20 minutes of the match saw Malawi increase their press for the opener, but there were still no meaningful scoring opportunities until the 87th minute when Nkhoma headed in a lovely ball from Mpinganjira to guide the Flames to a 1-0 win.
“First half, most of the time we were second to the ball but the boys managed to hold the opposition and we managed to go into the second half with a goalless margin”
“In the second half, we tried to push more in numbers, and we got a goal at the right time,” said Pasuwa.
However, Pasuwa has warned his charges against complacency with the win ahead of the second leg encounter.
“This can be the first half only. When we go there, we need to do the same way we have done today,” he added.
South Africa coach, Hugo Bross said he knows how to approach the second leg match against Malawi to progress to the next round.
“I expect a very defensive Malawian team in South Africa because they have got a one-nil lead but we will come up with solutions in terms of how to break and get goals so that we can advance to the next stage of the competition”
The second leg tie is scheduled for next week Sunday, May 11th, 2025, at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, South Africa.
