Malawi National Women’s Football Team opened their HollywoodBets Cosafa Women’s Championship defence with a scrappy 1-1 stalemate in opposition to Botswana at Isaac Wolfson Stadium in Gqeberha, South Africa, Wednesday.
The end result leaves Malawi needing to win their subsequent two matches if they’re to be assured of advancing to the semifinals.
Madagascar lead Malawi’s Group B with three factors after beating Mauritius 5-1 in an earlier match.
The Scorchers’ subsequent recreation is on Saturday in opposition to Madagascar whereas Botswana will likely be enjoying Mauritius.
Against Botswana, Malawi Coach Lovemore Fazili began with attacker Carolyn Mathyola and Rwanda-based ahead Mary Chavinda as he plotted to attain an early purpose however the two lacked coordination to trigger any issues to their opponents’ defence.
On two good events, Malawi’s Asimenye Simwaka would have opened the scores however Botswana captain and goalkeeper Sedilame Boseja stored her at bay.
The recreation continued to look promising for Malawi who dominated play with lengthy balls and ultimately acquired a purpose by participant of the match Faith Chimzimu.
The Ascent Academy star linked a deflection by a Botswana defender following a hard-hit nook kick taken by Mary Chavinda 28 minutes into the sport.
But Botswana equalized 5 minutes to the break with a crew purpose began by Keitumetse Dithebe who handed the ball to Lesego Radiakanyo who arrange Laone Moloi to transform.
Fazili mentioned the ladies are but to hit high type.
“This has been a slow start to our title defence. I would not say I am disappointed with the result because we played a much better side that brought its star players. So considering that we had a local squad, I would say I am happy with the way my players performed.
“Bu we have to beat Madagascar at least by five goals and even score more when we play Mauritius. My hope is that we will improve in our next matches,” he mentioned.
Botswana coach Alex Malete hailed his crew for incomes some extent in opposition to Malawi.
“We played better and kept possession. We pressed them hard and getting a point in this match is not bad. We will try to improve in some areas as we look forward to our next match,” Malete mentioned
During the match, Fazili rested Vanessa Chikupira and Mary Chavinda for Chisoko Banda and Catherine Kachala within the second half however the transfer didn’t pay any dividend as Botswana loved extra possession than Malawi.
The Malawi coach later launched Sarah Mlimbika for Carolyn Mathyola within the seventieth minute however nothing modified.
Meanwhile, Democratic Republic of Congo-based ahead Sabina Thom, who performs for TP Mazembe’s Women’s aspect, was anticipated to bolster the Malawi crew final night time.
