Flames bow out of CHAN

Advertisement
Flames vs Southafrica - CHAN

The Malawi National Football Team’s hopes of qualifying for the TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) were dashed following their 2-0 defeat to South Africa in the second leg played at Loftus Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon.

The Flames had a 1-0 advantage over Bafana Bafana going into this final match, and any positive result would have seen the team qualify for the tournament for the first time in history.

In the absence of head coach Kalisto Pasuwa, Peter Mponda was the man in charge as the team made a single change to the first leg squad by handing Promise Kamwendo his first start for the team in place of Zeliat Nkhoma, who scored last week.

From the outset, the Flames were more defensive in the opening half to avoid conceding early from the pressure exerted by the hosts, who were looking for an early goal to unsettle the visitors.

With just eleven minutes played, Bafana Bafana made a breakthrough through Victor Letsoalo after Malawi’s defence was caught off guard in the penalty box.

In essence, this goal should have unsettled Malawi, but they picked up the pieces and started pushing forward in search of a goal to keep their qualification hopes alive.

However, Pasuwa’s men had no attempt at a goal in the entire 45 minutes of the opening half, a clear indication of how difficult the game was for the visitors.

There were a few more chances for the hosts towards the end of the half, but George Chikooka was excellent between the two sticks as he kept Malawi in the game with important saves.

Malawi made an early second-half change, introducing Chawanangwa Gumbo for Promise Kamwendo, and immediately they were on the front foot as chances started to flow.

The Flames had their first shot on target after 50 minutes when South Africa’s goalkeeper made a simple save from Macdonald Lameck’s header.

Moments later, Binwell Katinji’s attempt was blocked by a South African defender after being set up by Gumbo.

Malawi’s dominance started to drop towards the end after an injury blow to Wongani Lungu, who saw Mponda replacing him with Gaddie Chirwa.

With just three minutes to go, Maema sealed the win for the host with a close-range finish, following yet another defensive relapse from the visitors, who ball watched as the hosts advanced into the penalty box, beating Chikooka, who could only see the ball rolling into the net, 2-0.

The defeat means Malawi has lost 2-1 on goal aggregate.

Advertisement