By Williams Gondwa in Johannesburg, South Africa:
The Malawi Under-17 Boys National Football Team has bowed out of this year’s Cosafa Youth Championship in South Africa, barely a day after their sisters exited the competition.
The junior Flames lost to Lesotho 3-1 at University of Johannesburg (UJ) Soweto Campus Stadium on Sunday.
Having drawn against Mozambique and Angola, the juniors needed to beat Lesotho to stand a chance of reaching the semifinals. However, Angola have emerged top in group A with seven points, having defeated Mozambique 1-0. Mozambique have finished the campaign with four points while Lesotho are third with three points.
Malawi anchor the group with two points. At UJ Soweto Campus Stadium, Lesotho took an early lead through Thutho Khetsi in the first five minutes before Skhosana Manamathela doubled the lead.
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Malawi pulled one back through James Lumbe before the recess. Just after 10 minutes into the second half, Lesotho restored their two-goal cushion with Rethabile Nqoko on target to make junior Flames’ life difficult. Malawi narrowed the margin when Yusuf Nantungu converted a penalty in the 80th minute.
In a post-match interview, Malawi Under-17 Coach Enos Chatama said his charges lacked confidence.
“I trusted my boys. I believed they would make it but things did not go according to our game plan. We missed some reliable players due to suspension and injuries,” Chatama said.
Meanwhile, the Malawi Girls Under-17 team will play the group B dead rubber match against Namibia on Monday.
