Fazili says friendlies against Banyana exposed Malawi’s defending woes

South Africa’s Banyana Banyana v Malawi’s Scorchers:

Photo Credit: Football Association of Malawi.

Malawi’s senior women’s football team coach Lovemore Fazili says the Scorchers have learnt a lot from their two friendlies in South Africa where they lost back-to-back to Banyana Banyana.

He admitted that the friendlies had exposed Malawi’s defensive frailties in dealing with set-pieces. Fazili said this after Malawi gave away a lead to lose 2-1 to the hosts at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday, adding to the 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Desiree Ellis side three days earlier.

The Scorchers mentor insisted that the purpose of the friendlies was for him to assess his players ahead of the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) qualifying match against Angola.

“The game was fair enough and the players tried their best looking at how we played in the first match,” Fazili told the Football Association of Malawi media.

He cited poor defending of set-pieces and a lack of firepower upfront as having contributed to the losses. “We have learnt a lot of lessons from the two games. We have a challenge in defending set pieces and this will be our main focus during sessions so that we avoid giving away goals,” he explained.

“The team is very good though we were weak in front as some key players were not available. We are sure that we have built a good team for the October assignments because we will be a full squad then.”

Malawi are fine-tuning for a WAFCON qualifying match against Angola while Banyana Banyana are preparing for the actual continental finals.