Malawi\u2019s junior Flames and Uganda\u2019s Hippos cannot afford a draw, let alone a loss, when they meet at Arthur Davies Stadium in today\u2019s Group A semi-final decider of the Cosafa Under-20 Championship.<\/p>\n
Both teams have four points from two games but Uganda lead the group on a superior goal aggregate of +2 compared to second-placed Malawi\u2019s +1.<\/p>\n
Bottom-placed Zambia and third-positioned Swaziland, who have one point each, also clash in an academic contest later today.<\/p>\n
Only a win over the big and athletic Ugandans would guarantee the junior Flames progression to the semi-finals, as overall winners of each of the three groups plus the best runner-up would sail through.<\/p>\n
This is the case as in Group B, Egypt and South Africa have amassed six points each with a game to go, thereby eliminating Zambia and Swaziland and also limiting the second-best slot for teams such as Malawi.<\/p>\n
In this crucial encounter, Patrick Phiri carries the junior Flames\u2019 hopes.<\/p>\n
The Premier Bet Wizards goal-poacher has two goals in two games.<\/p>\n
But for Phiri to deliver in the match, needs the reliable company of Griffin Young Stars\u2019 Peter Banda, whose split vision has impressed many.<\/p>\n
Mkwate thrived in a midfield diamond role in Friday\u2019s goalless draw against Zambia.<\/p>\n
Chimwemwe Idana (Bullets\u2019 Reserve) is Malawi\u2019s midfield brain as he controls the pace of the game.<\/p>\n
Equally critical would be the role of Phiri Senior, who needs a tactical master-plan to choke the life out of Uganda and their Coach, Mathias Lule, whose pre-match comments ahead of the game seemed to border on arrogance.<\/p>\n
\u201cA game against Malawi is not crucial. Every game is crucial for us. It is not yet over,\u201d Lule said.<\/p>\n
Asked about the absence of top scorer, Muhamad Shaban, who was red-carded in Friday\u2019s 2-2 draw against Swaziland, Lule responded: \u201cIn Uganda, we believe in a team and not individuals. We have a replacement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phiri Senior admitted that only a win would see his charges through.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a tough game. We just have to win this one,\u201d Phiri said.<\/p>\n
Uganda are never the same minus Shaban but the likes of Stephen Mukwala and Pius Obuya can be handy for Malawi if granted acres of space.<\/p>\n
STANDINGS <\/strong><\/p>\n Group A P Pts <\/strong><\/p>\n Uganda 2 4<\/p>\n Malawi 2 4<\/p>\n Swaziland 2 1<\/p>\n Zambia 2 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Malawi\u2019s junior Flames and Uganda\u2019s Hippos cannot afford a draw, let alone a loss, when they meet at Arthur Davies Stadium in today\u2019s Group A semi-final decider of the Cosafa Under-20 Championship. Both teams have four points from two games but Uganda lead the group on a superior goal aggregate of +2 compared to second-placed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":57311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57451"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57485,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57451\/revisions\/57485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}