Africa-Press – Malawi. Malawi Women’s National Football Team face Mozambique this afternoon in the semifinal of the Hollywoodbets Cosafa Women’s Championship at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville Township, Pretoria South Africa.
At stake is a place in the final of the regional showpiece. The Scorchers will be hoping to reach the Cosafa Cup final for the second time in three years. They also reached the final in 2021 where they lost 1-0 to Tanzania.
Mozambique will be eyeing their first ever Cosafa Women’s Championship final at the expense of the Scorchers who are the tournament’s favourites following a 100 percent record in the group stage.
The two sides are meeting for the second time in three years at the Cosafa Cup. They met in the group stage in 2021 in which Malawi defeated Mozambique 3-2.
Malawi and Mozambique also met in the first round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but the Scorchers came out top with a 14-1 victory on aggregate. The Scorchers had final training session at Wits University Football Club Ground on Thursday.
Coach Lovemore Fazili believes his side has all what it takes to reach the Cosafa Cup final. “We have worked on the shortcomings and we believe the players are ready for the game. We expect a tough match against Mozambique and we are not underatting them,” said Fazili.
Fazili is expected to make changes to the first eleven that played a against Madagascar on Tuesday after resting six key players. Captain Temwa Chawinga, Madyina Ngulube, Lyna James, Ireen Nkhumalo, Caroline Mathyola and Chimwemwe Madise are expected to return to the starting lineup this afternoon.
Chawinga said the players are ready for the big showdown. “This is a must win match for us after winning all the three group stage matches. It will be painful to lose to Mozambique. We want to win the cup,” said Chawinga, who has scored seven goals in three matches.
The Scorchers defeated South Africa 4-3 in the Cosafa Cup opener last week before hammering eSwatini 8-0 in the second match. Malawi beat Madagascar 3-1 in the last group stage match.
Mozambique qualified for the semifinals as overall best runner-up after finishing second in Group B with seven points from three matches, behind Zambia on goal-difference.
The match between Malawi and Mozambique will kick off at 3.30 PM. The first semifinal will be between defending champions champions Zambia and Zimbabwe at 12.00 noon at the same venue. Vedio Assistant Referee (Var) will be introduced from today’s matches at this year’s Cosafa Women’s Championship for the first time.
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