By Mabvuto Kambuwe in Johannesburg, South Africa:
Malawi Women’s National Football Team Coach Lovemore Fazili has said Mozambique should be prepared for a tough test when they face each other in a 2023 Hollywoodbets Cosafa Women’s Championship semi-final at Lucas Moripe Stadium Friday.
Fazili’s charges finished the group stage with a 100 percent record after winning all their three matches.
Malawi have also been a high scoring team at the regional contest with 15 goals against four.
The former Silver Strikers coach said they will continue to be ruthless in front of goal as they want to reach the final.
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“We are on a mission here. We want to achieve something big out of this competition. So Mozambique have to be strong. Our target is to grab the trophy and we do not see them stopping us from marching into the final,” he said.
The Scorchers started the competition with a 4-3 victory over hosts South Africa before registering an 8-0 win over eSwatini which saw them cruising to the last four.
Malawi finished the group matches with a 3-1 win over Madagascar to put the icing on the cake.
However, Fazili believes there are areas he still needs to work on despite the perfect run.
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“There have been some weaknesses in the three matches we have played here and we need to rectify them before facing Mozambique,” Fazili said.
During the match against Madagascar, Fazili made six changes to the team that played against eSwatini.
The changes had little effect on Malawi as Vanessa Chikupira, Leticia Chinyamula and Asimenye Simwaka scored to complete a remarkable group run.
Fazili said he was pleased with the performance of all the players who featured against Madagascar.
This is the first time the Scorchers have won three consecutive games in the competition since it was introduced in 2002.
Malawi are aiming at their first ever gold at this year’s tournament, having finished as runners-up to guests Tanzania in 2021.
Captain Temwa Chawinga said they are in the right frame of mind for the match.
“We are taking this match seriously. We want to make history by winning the cup for the first time,” she said.
Temwa is having a tournament of her life at the competition where she is the leading goal scorer with seven goals in just two matches.
She started with a hat-trick in a 4-3 win over hosts South Africa before netting four goals against eSwatini.
Shabuhlile Shamase of South Africa is second with five goals but she does not stand a chance to catch up as her team is out.
Zambians Sarah Jere and Friday Kabwe have three goals each with Malawi’s Chinyamula on two goals.
