COSAFA Cup: Malawi's wasteful Flames draw with Namibia
- Peter Kanjere
- Jun 8
- 2 min read
Wasteful Malawi settled for a 0-0 draw with Namibia in South Africa on Sunday with both teams undermining their 2025 COSAFA Cup semifinal dreams.
The Flames, smarting from a 1-0 loss to Lesotho on Thursday and Namibia having managed a 1-1 draw against Angola on the same day, knew that the Group B game at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein was a must-win.
However, the Brave Warriors’ solid defending and the Flames’ poor finishing resulted in the draw, leaving both team’s last-four chances hanging by a thread. Malawi have one point, two for Namibia, while Lesotho and Angola have three and four points each, respectively.
Malawi coach Kalisto Pasuwa reshuffled the squad that lost to Lesotho on Thursday, with Promise Kamwendo, Blessings Singini, Emmanuel Nyirenda, and Gaddie Chirwa starting in place of Zeliet Nkhoma, Timothy Silwimba, Maxwell Paipi and Wongani Lungu.
Pasuwa’s men dominated the first half, Macdonald Lameck building play from the back, Singini combining well with Wisdom Mpingangira on the left wing. The Flames’ other attacking avenue was on the right wing, where Chirwa and Chikumbutso Salima’s combination gave Namibia skipper Vatunuavi Hambiri a tough afternoon.
But for all their dominance, the Flames could not find a way to score. Kamwendo had an effort ruled out for offside in the 13th minute, then Namibia goalkeeper Kamaijanda Ndisiro produced a wonderful block to deny Salima in the penalty box in the 30th minute.
The Brave Warriors had a fair share of scoring in the 38th minute when Joslin Kamatuka’s curling effort nearly went inside the post, but goalkeeper George Chikooka dived to tip the effort out.
In the second half, the Namibia coach made some changes, including introducing Willy Stephanus for Paulus Amutenya. Despite such changes for the 2024 finalists, it was Malawi who looked more like scoring this time around with defender Blessings Mpokera sending his header off target from a free-kick in the 77th minute.
A few minutes later, the Flames exchanged passes on the edge of the box, freeing Salima, who went charging into the box before tumbling down. However, the referee ignored penalty appeals for the FCB Nyasa Big Bullets attacker. Chawanangwa Gumbo also had a goal-bound shot deflected out for safety as Namibia lived dangerously.
Two minutes later, Kamwendo stumbled and miscued Chirwa’s delivery at the near post to sum up the frustrating afternoon for the Flames whose last group assignment is against Angola. Namibia take on Lesotho on Tuesday.
Line-ups:
Namibia: Kamaijanda Ndisiro, Vetunuavi Hambira, Ngero Katua, Muzeu Muzeu, Moses Shidolo, Leevi Luqman Alfeus, Joslin Kamatuka, Kennedy Eib, Paulus Amutenya, Ivan Kamberipa, Isqo Haraseb
Malawi: George Chikooka, Emmanuel Nyirenda, Maxwell Paipi, MacDonald Lameck, Yankho Singo, Wisdom Mpinganjira, Blessings Mpokera, Chikumbutso Salima, Gaddie Chirwa, Blessings Singini, Chawanangwa Gumbo
Group B Table (2 games played)
Points | |
Angola | 4 |
Lesotho | 3 |
Namibia | 2 |
Malawi | 1 |
The group winners qualify for the semifinals
Group B Fixtures
June 10
Namibia vs Lesotho
Angola vs Malawi
