The Malawi Under-15 Girls Team has qualified for the Caf African Schools Championship finals despite suffering a 3-1 loss to eventual champions South Africa at Jan Wilken Sports Field in Namibia Sunday.
The team booked a spot to the continental showpiece finals despite finishing as runners-up, as South Africa automatically qualified for the tournament by virtue of being defending champions.
On top of that, the girls’ team will get $75,000 (about K 131 million) as prize money for being runners-up whereas South Africa will get $100,000 (K175 million) plus a trophy.
Malawi Girls Coach Bridget Chirwa said they needed to prepare well for the Caf African Schools Championship finals.
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“We have noticed some problems but we will rectify them before the finals,” Chirwa said.
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However, Chirwa said her girls were demoralised due to what she called questionable officiation.
“We accepted the defeat. Our girls played a good game against South Africa but, unfortunately, officiation was poor,” she said.
Rejoice Silungwe scored the consolation goal for Malawi, the first goal South Africa ever conceded at the competition.
On their way to the final, the Malawi girls’ team defeated Zimbabwe 2-1 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
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Meanwhile, Malawian boy’s team’s Okester Kanyenda won the golden boot award with four goals.
The boys’ team was eliminated in the semi-finals following a 2-1 loss to South Africa on Saturday.
Malawi Boys Team coach Moses Chimbetete said despite failing to secure a place at the finals, there were some positives to draw from the competition.
“The boys have learnt a lot at the tournament. We hope to do better next year,” Malamula said.
Weighing in on the issue, Malawi Schools Sports Association (Massa) President Blackson Malamula said both the boys’ and girls’ teams played well.
“Congratulations to the girls for qualifying for Afcon finals. We will give the team enough support ahead of the finals,” Malamula said.
Salima Secondary School finished third during the inaugural edition, which was held in South Africa in April last year.
