History is in the making as the Malawi Women’s National Football team will face guest nation Tanzania in the 2021 Cosafa Cup final at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this afternoon.
Expectations are high after the Scorchers knocked out holders and hosts South Africa with a 3-2 win on Thursday.
This is Malawi’s real test as Tanzania are yet to lose a match in this year’s tournament.
Scorchers Coach McNelbert Kazuwa said his charges were aiming for nothing short of a win.
“We will play our usual game. The players are in right frame of mind. It will be an open game but the best team will win it,” he added.
Captain Madyina Ngulube said the Scorchers were determined to win gold for the first time ever.
“We want to prove a point that beating South Africa was not a fluke,” she said.
Kazuwa will likely maintain the team that defeated South Africa.
Goalkeeper Ruth Mhango will likely start the match whereas Patricia Nyirenda will lead defence alongside Chimwemwe Madise, Ruth Nyirongo and Ireen Khumalo.
Ngulube and Zainab Kapanda will start in midfield while Wezzie Mvula and Asimenye Simwaka will operate from the wings.
On a good day, Fazira Chiyembekezo and Sabina Thom can cause plenty of problems to any team.
Tanzania Coach Bakari Shime anticipates a tough match against Malawi.
“We play compact football and make sure that we deny our opponents spaces,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Lazarus Chakwera led Malawians in congratulating the team for reaching their first ever Cosafa Cup final.
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) hiked Scorchers allowances to K600,000 for reaching the Cosafa Women’s Championship finale.
“As a reward for reaching the final and beating Banyana Banyana, the bonus of the Scorchers has been doubled from K300, 000 to K600, 000.00 for each player and technical official.
This is a special token of thanks to the girls for making history and putting Malawi on the map,” Fam president Walter Nyamilandu said.
“We are extremely delighted with the superior performance that the Scorchers have displayed at the Cosafa Women’s Championships.
Our focus is now on the ultimate prize of bringing the trophy back home.”
There was confusion as Fam secretariat indicated that Scorchers will get K400,000 pay hike up from K200,000 but Nyamilandu insisted that the senior women’s side will get K600,000.
The excitement continued yesterday as Nico Group of Companies has pledged K5 million to the team if they win the cup.
Additionally, Nico has pledged K100,000 for the goal scorer and K40,000 to each player for every goal they score on Saturday.
Nico Group Head of Marketing and Customer Experience Lorraine Phiri said the company was excited with the Scorchers achievement.
“As a patriotic Malawian Group of companies, we would like to make a small gesture to encourage our ladies as they prepare for the finals,” Phiri said.
