Frank Mojah Dzuwa

The agility, pace, dribbling, confidence and calmness on the ball were displayed on Tuesday afternoon when the junior Flames managed to qualify for the COSAFA Region 5 Youth Games beating hosts Namibia 2-0.

The victory has inspired the Malawi coach Millias Pofera Jegwe who is confident to win the trophy for the first time after reaching the semi-finals.

Malawi’s achievement at this tournament was to reach the final in 2003.

Goals from Lameck Mithi in the 80th minute and Clifford Chisale in the 95th minute sealed the victory for the junior Flames finishing group matches without a defeat.

With this win, alongside a 1-all draw against Angola and a 2-1 win over Zimbabwe, Malawi topped Group A with 7 points—level with Angola on points but with a superior goal difference.

Malawi and Angola advance to the semi-finals while hosts Namibia and Zimbabwe have been eliminated with 3 and 0 points respectively after three games.

Speaking after wrapping up the group games, Pofera said: “Every game is a learning point because if you look at the first game, you could see that there were some areas where we were having problems, but we rectified those issues. Now we are there. We are here to grab the trophy.”

In contrast, the women’s team has struggled, failing to win a match with their coach Linda Kasenda disappointed with the outcome.