Wa Ganyu
When everyone thought Malawi would take a point from home in a match which the visitors had dominated, they did not realise that we would concede a penalty in regulation time which would break Malawi’s hearts.
With three minutes to regulation time the Flames tied 0-0 with Tunisia at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe. The Flames of Malawi conceded a penalty when defender Lawrence Chaziya fouled Sayfallah Ltaief in the box.
Youssef Msakni claimed three points for the Carthage Eagles when he sent goalkeeper Brighton Munthali the wrong way and that’s how the 2026 World Cup qualifiers campaign match ended.
The loss denied the Flames a result which would have followed up on their 1-0 win over Liberia in Monrovia on Friday.
How the match progressed:
It was a struggle for Malawi in both halves, giving Tunisia ample time to dominate, but they found it difficult to break the Flames’ defence.
In the first half, the Flames had two shots on target in the first half through captain John Banda’s powerful drive outside the penalty box that forced the Tunisia goalkeeper Bechir Said to parry it away.
Another chance came with seven minutes to go in the first half when Chimwemwe Idana set up Banda in the six-yard box but he failed to connect home.
Second half was not for Malawi as the visitors kept pressing to force Malawi open its back but it was difficult.
Coach Patrick Mabedi substituted Banda, Olson Kanjira, Stanley Sanudi and Saizi for Christopher Kumwembe, Patrick Mwaungulu, Chifundo Mphasi and Lanjesi Nkhoma, respectively.
Those changes failed to pay for Malawi.
With 10 minutes to go, they found a chance but defender Chaziya cleared the ball on the line.
However, he turned from hero to villain when he conceded the penalty.
Mabedi said he is proud of his boys because they played according to the game plan.
“We managed to close spaces and they failed to penetrate. We played according to the plan, but we lost concentration in the second half and we were punished,” he said.
Mabedi said Malawians should accept to move on without other players giving an example of South Africa-based Frank Gabadihno Mhango who was dropped on disciplinary grounds.
Tunisia coach Jalal Gaderi said they expected that Malawi would come hard on them, but experience helped them to win the match.
“You can see that we dominated the whole game but scoring was a problem. We respect Malawi, it is a good team but we were a good side on the day,” he said.
