BY PETER KANJERE:
Malawi under-17 national football team put their Cosafa Championship campaign back on track after routing Zimbabwe 5-0 at Francois Xavier Stadium in Port Louis, Mauritius, Monday, but the semi-finals’ path is not cleared yet.
The Deklerk Msakakuona boys, who were inspired by a double from man-of-the-match Patrick Mwaungulu, must beat Swaziland Wednesday in a decisive Group C qualifying match and hope that the eliminated Zimbabwe should defeat Angola on the same day.
Swaziland and Angola beat Zimbabwe and Malawi 3-2 and 1-0, respectively, on Friday.
Later Monday, Angola thrashed Swaziland 4-0 to qualify for the semi-final with six points from two games.
In a post-match interview Monday, Msakakuona hailed his boys for sticking to the attacking game-plan.
“We knew that if we scored first, we could manage to keep the lead,” Msakakuona said.
The win took the third-placed junior Flames’ tally to three points from two games. Only winners of each of the three four-member groups will sail through to the semi-finals while being joined by overall best loser.
During the match, Mwaungulu put Malawi ahead in the fourth minute before Tatenda Mbalaka doubled the lead to make the most of Zimbabwe’s sloppy defending.
Zimbabwe reportedly failed to cope with the pace and trickery of Malawi, who led 2-0 going into half-time break.
In the second-half, Zimbabwe tried to crawl their way back into the game through Tanaka Matenga and John Bonomali but they could not find a way past Malawi’s defence.
The junior Flames put the game beyond Zimbabwe’s reach when Francis Mtoso scored the third goal before Mwaungulu claimed his second goal and Malawi’s fourth in the 77th minute.
Two minutes later, Emmanuel Mitole completed the rout, before referee Mokani Gobagoba from Botswana blew the final whistle.
Line up:
Malawi: Kennedy Nankhama, Kesten Simbi, Blessings Mpokera, Mitole, Mwaungulu, Francis Mtoso (c), Vitumbiko Nyirenda, Mbalaka, Gift Jossam, Patrick Mponda, Lovemore Mbeta
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