Silver Strikers Ladies suffered their first defeat at the ongoing Caf Women’s Champions League/Cosafa qualifiers when they lost 3-0 Mamelodi Sundowns at Gaborone United Stadium in Botswana last night.
This means Silver Ladies must beat Nsingizini Hotspurs in their last match Tuesday to progress to the semi-finals of the competition.
Following the loss, Silver Ladies remain second in Group B with three points from two matches at par with Costa Do Sol after the Mozambican side defeated Nsingizini Hotspurs 3-1 in an early kick off.
Sundowns Ladies lead the group with six points from two matches and they look poised to finish as Group B winners.
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Silver Ladies made a slow start to the match and they conceded two goals inside 20 minutes as Karabo Dlamini netted a brace for the South African giants.
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Dlamini opened the scoring in the 11th minute before completing her brace in the 18th minute.
After recess, Sundowns increased the lead through Isabella Ludwig in the 50th minute.
Silver Ladies coach Patricio Kulemeka made two changes to the side that beat Costa Do Sol 2-1 on Friday as Carol Mathyola and Grace Kakangula started ahead of Yamikani Mhango and Deborah Henry.
However, the changes made little impact as Sundowns were simply too good for the Central Bankers Ladies.
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The Central Bankers Ladies will wrap up their group stage campaign against Nsingizini Hotspurs from Eswatini Tuesday.
In another match, Sundowns will face Costa Do Sol on the same day.
The two top teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals of the competition. Kulemeka said his charges gave Sundowns too much respect.
“It was not our night. We gave our opponents too much respect but we have learnt some lessons,” Kulemeka said.
Sundowns coach Zolile Sapula praised the players for the win.
“It is a good win for us. We executed the game very well,” Sapula said.
Should Silver Ladies qualify for the semi-finals, they would become the first Malawian team to achieve that feat after both Kukoma Ntopwa and Ascent Soccer Academy failed in their previous attempts.
Ntopwa took part in the competition in 2023 and 2025 whereas Ascent represented the country in 2024 when the competition was held on home soil at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre.
