Malawi’s quest to defend the COSAFA Holywoodbets was ended by Zambia following their 2-0 loss to Zambia in the semi-finals on Thursday.
The two sides met with memories still fresh from last year’s thrilling encounter in the final where Malawi lifted the trophy with a 2-1 victory over their rivals, leading Group B with 7 points.
The Scorchers qualified for semi-finals having massacred Mauritius 9-0, a one nil victory over and held a goalless draw with Botswana in the group stages. Zambia, on the other has also shown impressive form, with a 7-0 victory over Comoros and a 3-0 win against Angola.
In the first half, the match was tense although no goal was registered. However, the Scorchers dominated in the number of goal attempts with a first chance Scorchers through a freekick five meters from the Box after a foul on Faith Chinzimu, 7 minutes into the game.
Twenty minutes later another chance came in through Leticia Chinyamula whose shot landed straight into the goalkeeper Petronella Musole’s palms.
In the 43rd minute, another chance was missed by the Scorchers as Leticia Chinyamula, Tendai Sani and Sabina Thom skilfully exchanged passes to set Asimenye but she missed the target.
From the first half of the match, the Scorchers made 16 goal attempts against 14 of that of their rivals, some of which landed in the goal keepers’ hands.
But 3 minutes into the second half, Ochumba Lubandji put Zambia in the lead with another goal scored in the 68 minute conceded from a costly mistake.
While others thought Scorchers was dreaming in colour in the absence of key players such as Temwa Chawinga, the girls proved that it was a blessing in disguise as some players such as Leticia Chinyamula named in the best 11 players of the group stages.
Leticia Chinyamula was also a key player for Malawi as they claimed a maiden success at the 2023 COSAFA Women’s Championship when they beat Zambia 2-1 in the final. She scored in the epic 4-3 win over hosts South Africa and in the 3-1 success against Madagascar in the pool stages. She started the final and put in an excellent display.
In the absence of international players, the Scorchers demonstrated skill as the girls had 6 shots on target which was equal to Zambia, 11 fouls against 13 of that Zambia, 2/0 against 10, 1 corner and offside with 47 ball possession.
