Malawi Women’s National Football Team Coach Lovemore Fazili is certain that the Scorchers have taken the right direction ahead of the upcoming Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualifier against Angola later this year.
Fazili said this after the team lost 3-1 to Ghana’s Black Queens in an international friendly match in Morocco on Saturday.
It was the Scorchers’ fifth loss in six friendly matches after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Morocco last week.
Fazili said despite the losses, there were positives that could be drawn from the matches.
“We have learnt a lot from these experienced teams. This is very important for us. Playing with big teams who have been at Wafcon and the World Cup has helped us a lot,” Fazili said.
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In the recent two matches, the Scorchers failed to protect their lead.
Against Morocco, the Scorchers gave away a two-goal lead after goals from Tabitha Chawinga and Rose Kabzere.
It was the same case against Ghana, as Tendai Sani opened the scoring.
Fazili said the matches had also helped him to assemble a strong team.
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“We have a very good and strong team but the only challenge is that we have not managed to have all our stars together. We have been going through this situation but I am very sure that, against Angola, we will have all the best players,” he said.
Fazili said the absence of defender Chimwemwe Madise and Temwa Chawinga was felt.
The duo missed the two matches due to club commitments.
The Scorchers used the matches to prepare for their upcoming crucial Wafcon qualifier against Angola in October.
Malawi will start away on October 20 before hosting them a week later.
Sports analyst Parry Chinyama said the friendly matches had exposed some shortcomings.
“I am sure that the technical panel will work on the weaknesses, including defending and goalkeeping,” he said.
Early this year, Malawi lost 2-0 to Zambia in the first match before suffering a 3-2 victory in the second match.
In April, Malawi lost 3-0 and 2-1 to South Africa’s Banyana Banyana.
