Scorchers improve
Just like a hungry cat chasing an elusive mouse, Temwa Chawinga raced into the box, sprung upfield and nodded home a Zainab Kapanda’s cross from the left wing.
That 31st minute priceless goal in their last Group B clash at Wolfson Stadium was enough for Scorchers to end Zambia’s eight-year dominance and break nine-year semi-final jinx in the Cosafa Women’s Championship.
Although they lost their rhythm in the semi-final where they lost 6-3 defeat to the hosts and defending champions South Africa’s Banyana Banyana, Malawi women’s national football team victory against the Tokyo Olympics-bound side and their first qualification for the last-four stage in years, illustrated the great strides they have made so far.
It felt good to see Malawi scorching Shepolopolo, who subjected Scorchers to agonising pain during the previous edition when the neighbours did everything possible for Malawi to get the boot. Then, Zambia needed to beat Botswana for Malawi to progress to the last-four but they deliberately missed a flurry of chances, including a penalty in the dying minutes for the game to end in goalless draw.
The fact that Malawi went down to South Africa after being reduced to 10 players in the first half following goalkeeper Samir Amidu’s red card and that they thrashed Lesotho 9-0 in their opening group match, proved that the they pulled up their performance socks in 2020.
Against South Africa, Malawi appeared the stronger side in the goalless first half despite being reduced to 10 players, they put up a gallant fight to enjoy possession and frequently probed Banyana Banyana defence.
However, they lost steam in the second half in which Banyana Banyana scored their six goals in quick succession. South Africa scored all their goals within a space of 27 minutes. Tabitha and Temwa helped to minimise the score margin with a goal apiece.
“It felt great to reach the semi-finals after trying in vain for the past nine years. We could have made it into the final had it not been for the red card,” said Scorchers captain Tabitha Chawinga, who returned for Cosafa action after missing the last two editions due to club commitments in China.
Nevertheless, the team’s over reliance on the China-based Chawinga sisters in terms of scoring, was testimony that the Scorchers need to mould more strikers. Tabitha and Temwa scored 10 of the team’s 12 goals at the tournament with the former notching seven and the latter three. Zainab Kapanda and Chimwemwe Madise scored the other goals.
Tabitha managed to emerge as the 11-team tournament’s second top scorer as she was just a goal shy of the golden boot winner Banyana Banyana’s Sibulele Holweni. A total of 64 goals were scored in the competition’s 15 matches.
The Chawinga sisters’ mobility, pace and hunger for goals always piled more pressure on the opponents and forced them on the back-foot, thereby creating more scoring chances.
Otherwise, there is still a long way to go to have a team that is strong in both defence and attack.
“It has been a good experience for us. However, our defence was not all that good,” said Scorchers’ coach McNebert Kazuwa.
