Malawi Under-17 National Football Team on Tuesday booked a Cosafa Youth Cup semi-final berth against South Africa after beating Kenya 5-0 in Port Louis, Mauritius.
The Junior Flames needed a draw to reach the semifinals, but showed no mercy on the Kenyans with the convincing victory.
Goals from Frank Chizuze, Francisco Madinga and Peter Banda’s hat-trick ensured the Junior Flames’ progression as Group B runners-up with six points, three behind Zambia, who defeated Madagascar 3-0 on the same day.
Chizuze grabbed the opener after 19 minutes before Banda increased the lead in the 52nd and 59th minutes. Madinga added the fourth after 64 minutes before Banda completed his hat-trick on the stroke of full time.
The Junior Flames started their campaign with a 2-1 victory over Madagascar on Friday, before being thrashed 3-0 by Zambia on Sunday.
This is the biggest victory recorded by any team at the Cosafa Cup this year.
In an interview from Mauritius, Malawi coach, Derklerk Msakakuona, said his young troops were slowly gaining confidence on the international stage.
“Most of the players are still young, but they have a good fighting spirit. We dominated the game and the players played according to game- plan,” Msakakuona said.
Malawi won the competition in 2001 as hosts at Kamuzu Stadium.
Malawi line-up: Hastings Banda, Moses Chipanda Jnr, Henry Chiwaya, Hadji Wali (captain), Innocent Shema, Chimango Kalinga, Banda, Lexpart Sumaili, Madinga,
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