Salima Secondary School qualified for the semifinals of the inaugural African Schools Championship after registering their first win when they beat Algerian school Ecole Belawech Bourmerde 2-0 at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban, South Africa yesterday.
Following the win, Salima finished the group stages on position four with four points.
They will face Ben Sekou of Guinea in the semifinals today..
Glaham High School of South Africa will face Sainte Rita of Benin.
After back-to-back defeats to Sainte Rita of Benin (2-0) and Ben Sekou of Guinea (1-0), the Malawi school displayed a good performance against the Algerians who arrived in Durban on Thursday night.
Goals from Alex Blessings Sakala and Innocent Banda were enough to secure maximum points for the Malawi school.
The victory means Salima have collected four points from four matches having drawn 1-1 with Glaham High School of South Africa in the opening match.
Salima Coach Joseph Kaunda was pleased with the performance of the players.
“We showed our resilience throughout the match. Congratulations to the boys. It was not an easy victory,’’ he said.
The format of the competition was changed after only five teams turned up for the event.
The semifinals and the final will be played today.
Malawi Schools Sports Association (Massa) Chairperson Blackson Malamula also praised the boys for their hardworking spirit.
“The future is bright for Malawi if we keep the boys,” Malamula said.
Salima qualified for the competition after finishing as runners-up during the Cosafa Zone qualifiers held at Bingu National Stadium.
The inaugural champions will pocket $300,000 (about K300 million).
Runners-up and the third placed team will get $250,000 and $150,000 respectively.
