Pressure is mounting on Malawi National Football Team coach Kalisto Pasuwa and Scorchers coach Lovemore Fazili following their teams’ poor performance in all competitions.
This comes after the Flames lost 1-0 to Ethiopia in an international friendly match at Dire Dawa National Stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday.
The defeat extended the Flames’ winless run to three consecutive matches after another comical showing at the Four Nations Tournament in Francistown, Botswana, in April this year.
It was Pasuwa’s eighth loss in 21 matches in all competitions since he took over from Patrick Mabedi in 2024. He has lost to teams such as Sao Tome and Principe (1-0), Zambia (9-8), Botswana (1-0), Namibia (1-0) and Tunisia (2-0).
The Zimbabwean has won six matches, including victories over Comoros (2- 0, 0-2), South Africa (1-0) and Lesotho (1-0).
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In the last three matches, the Flames have also failed to score a goal.
After the defeat to Ethiopia on Saturday, Pasuwa rued missed chances.
“We came good in the second half after we made changes.
“Unfortunately, we could not convert the chances. In this level of football, when you do not take chances you get punished,” Pasuwa said Malawi and Ethiopia will face each other in a second friendly match at the same venue tomorrow.
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The Flames are preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers, which are expected to start in September this year.
Malawi are in Group B alongside seven-time African champions Egypt, Angola and South Sudan. Similarly, Scorchers have struggled in recent matches, having lost three consecutive matches and recorded one draw in four matches.
The Scorchers shared the spoils with Tanzania following a goalless stalemate at KMC Stadium on Sunday after losing 1-0 to the Twiga Stars on Wednesday.
The team lost 5-0 to Australia before suffering a 3-2 defeat to India in Nairobi, Kenya. The Scorchers last won a match when they beat Angola 1-0 at the Cosafa Women’s Championship at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa, in January.
Despite all the losses, Fazili said the team was ready for the upcoming Caf Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) finals in Morocco.
“We are ready for Wafcon finals,” Fazili said. The Scorchers will make their maiden appearance at the 2026 Wafcon finals next month.
Sports analyst Parry Chinyama said the two teams have similar problems.
“We lack technical capacity for both players and the coaching personnel,” he said.
Another sports analyst Twaha Chimuka said the coaches were not solely to blame.
“The main problem is we do not have a clear production line of players,” he said.
