Malawi National Football Team faces a huge task this evening as they need a win at all cost at Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek to clinch a Cosafa Castle Cup quarterfinal berth in Namibia.
With six points each in group B, the Flames are on position two behind leaders, Lesotho who have a superior goal-aggregate. The Crocodiles have scored five goals compared to Malawi’s four.
Both teams are yet to concede in two games. The Flames defenders Miracle Gabeya, Harry Nyirenda, Stanley Sanudi and Francis Mlimbika need to shield goalkeeper Charles Swini from Lesotho attackers Tumelo Kuthlang and Hlompo Kalake.
Kuthlang and Kalake scored when the Crocodiles eased to a 2-0 win over youthful Angola. On Sunday, the Flames thumped Angola 3-0 at Independence Stadium in Windhoek, courtesy of three-goal hero Gabadinho Mhango.
However, Mhango was denied a clear sight of goal as Malawi laboured to a 1-0 win over Mauritius on Tuesday with Gabeya heading in the winner. Nonetheless, Mhango’s runs and work-rate could prove handy to Lesotho, but he needs to check his temper.
The Flames must also make use of Gerald Phiri Jnr’s wonderful set-piece deliveries. More creativity is needed in midfield where Joseph Kamwendo and Phiri, at times, float too much, thereby creating a yawning gap.
The one-time Cosafa Cup finalists, Lesotho, have an advantage going into this match because any draw can see them through to date South Africa in the last-eight on Saturday.
During a press conference in Namibia on Tuesday night, Mtawali admitted that Lesotho poses as a big challenge as they have a mixture of old and young players.
“I don’t want to talk much about our game against Lesotho. All we want is a win. Any win will take us through. To achieve that, we need to focus and play our game. You can see that the tournament is now getting tougher and we will make sure to win,” Mtawali said.
Lesotho coach Moses Maliehe has since told his country’s media that his team needs to step up to the plate when challenging the two-time finalists, Malawi.
“My boys played well [against Angola], but we could have done better. We now have three points and we must prepare for our last game against Malawi as we would like to win it as well, so as to qualify,” Maliehe told www. lelamobile.com
Malawi and Lesotho have met twice in Cosafa Cup history with the Flames winning on both occasions in 2005 and 2008.
Lesotho is a mountainous kingdom nation with a population of two million—surely, the Flames have a mountain to climb.
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