Malawi U-17 seek top spot
Malawi under-17 national football team will go for nothing short of a win in today’s academic Cosafa Youth Championship group A qualifying match against hosts Mauritius at Stade St Francois Xavier.
The junior Flames nailed their semi-final spot on Monday; hence, they can afford a luxury of a loss against the islanders in this dead-rubber.
But Malawi Team Manager, Peter Mponda, knows that the outcome of this match would determine their next opponents.
“We are through but we want to finish on position number one so that we should play the number two [from group B], which is likely to be South Africa,” Mponda said in an interview from Port Louis City on Monday.
Currently, Zambia lead group B followed by South Africa, a team Malawi might meet.
However, reports suggest that Zambia are at the centre of age-cheating investigations.
Mponda said they were waiting for Cosafa’s official position on the allegations.
Last year, the young Chipolopolo got suspended from the same competition in the same country over age-cheating.
If found at fault, the Zambians can be disqualified, paving way for either Madagascar or Mozambique to qualify to the last-four.
Malawi and Mauritius booked their last-four slots after the junior Flames thrashed Zimbabwe 5-0 on Monday whereas Mauritius saw off Botswana 2-1 in another group A qualifying match.
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