The Malawi National Women’s team will on Thursday afternoon face neighbours and rivals Zambia in the semifinal of the 2024 Cosafa Women’s Championship.
This will be a repetition of last year’s final which Malawi won 2-1 courtesy of Asimenye Simwaka and Sabina Thom’s goals.
The Scorchers will be going into the semifinals beaming with confidence after thrashing Mauritius 9-0 in their last group stage match on Monday.
However they need to be cautious as they face a side that will be looking for revenge.
The Copper Queens set the semifinal clash after beating Comoros 7-0 in their second group stage match to set a 100 percent group stage win as they also defeated Angola 3-0 in their first match.
They are the only team yet to concede at the tournament.
Scorchers have on the other hand scored eleven goals in their three group stage matches conceding only one goal against Botswana.
Speaking ahead of the match, Coach Lovemore Fazili says his team knows that Zambia is a strong side but they are geared and ready to frustrate the Copper Queens just like they did last year.
“We know that Zambia are well experienced both at continental and World level having participated at both WAFCON and World Cup but we have told the girls to stay focused and determined and be strong.
“We have played Zambia before and we have watched the games that they have played so far against Angola and Comoros. Their play is not that different from ours so we know what to do to defeat them”, said Fazili.
In the last six meeting between the two sides, Malawi has won three, Zambia won two and one match ended in a draw.
In 2021, the two sides met in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations first round qualifiers where Zambia were 4-3 aggregate winners after a one-all draw in Lilongwe in the first and a 3-2 win in Zambia.
The last time the two sides met at Cosafa was in 2020 when the Scorchers won 1-0 in a group B encounter.
The second semifinal set will see hosts South Africa facing Mozambique at 15:00Hrs at Wolfson Stadium, the same venue which will host Malawi and Zambia from 12 noon.
