Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, failed to utilise home advantage as they finished fourth at the just-ended Four Nations Tournament held from March 18 to 26 at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
The Flames lost 2-1 to neighbours Zambia in the third-place play-off yesterday.
This means the Flames have lost three consecutive matches at home in all competitions, having suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Kenya on Saturday at the same venue.
The Flames lost 1-0 to Tunisia in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
Surely, the losses mean coach Patrick Mabedi has plenty of home work ahead of upcoming 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe in June this year.
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There was a lot to play for against Zambia as, apart from third place finish, pride was also at stake.
But it was another nightmare for the Flames and the fans.
Out of two matches, the Flames conceded six goals but only scored one.
Against Zambia, Mabedi made some changes as goalkeeper Brighton Munthali, Chawanangwa Kaonga, Chimwemwe Idana and Robert Saizi paved the way for Innocent Nyasulu, Patrick Mwaungulu, Lloyd Njaliwa and Lanjesi Nkhoma.
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However, it was the same old story for the Flames as they conceded two quick goals again in two matches.
The defence made a cocktail of mistakes. Clatous Chama scored the first goal for Zambia from the freekick, beating Nyasulu in the 15th minute of the match.
Patson Daka doubled Zambia’s lead with a neat finish in the 16th minute.
After the goal, the Flames reorganised themselves and pulled one back through Lawrence Chaziya, who headed home Mwaungulu’s freekick.
In the second half, Mabedi made a triple change, introducing Idana, Kaonga and Mphasi for Mwaungulu, Njaliwa and Frank Gabadinho Mhango.
The change brought life into Flames attack as they took the game to the Chipolopolo Boys.
Malawi had one penalty appeal turned down after Kaonga was adjudged to have been fouled in the box.
The Flames fought hard for an equaliser but it never came as Zambia’s defence stood firm and held on for the win.
Despite the two losses, Mabedi said the tournament had helped him assess players.
“It was a good tournament. We wanted to win but, unfortunately, lost the two matches .We have drawn some positives from the tournament as we gave some new players an opportunity to play,” Mabedi said.
On his part, Zambia coach Avram Grant said he was happy with the performance of his team.
“The tournament helped us a lot as we have crucial matches in the World Cup qualifiers. We met good teams as Malawi and Zimbabwe gave us good games,” Grant said.
The four teams used the tournament as part of preparations.
