Mukuru Four Nations Tournament: ‘Malawi was slow against Zambia’ – Pasuwa

Malawi coach Kalisto Pasuwa has suggested that his team might have underrated weakened Zambia in Saturday’s Mukuru Four Nations Tournament opener in Botswana.

The second-string Chipolopolo beat the full-strength Flames 9-8 on post-match penalties after a goalless draw in open play at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown.

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— FA Malawi (@FaMalawi) March 28, 2026

Ahead of the game, the Zimbabwean had warned his charges against underrating the rivals even if they featured up-and-coming players.

How Pasuwa fears came true

True to his fears, the Flames could not beat the Zambians in open play, forcing the game to spill over to post-match penalties.

In a post-match interview, Pasuwa insisted that his side was punished for underrating the rivals while also suggesting that poor finishing contributed to the defeat.

“What I can say is that youngsters can do anything on a good day,” the Malawi coach said. “I even gave an example of a B team where if you underrate them, they can punish you.

“They fared very well, which is good on their part. I even saw them doing front pressing which was forcing us to hit long balls. We were slow to go at them, but in the second half, we came good and we could have buried them. It is part of the game.”

How Zambia and Malawi played in regulation time

In open play, both teams seemed to have practiced the penalties with precision; hence, converted all their attempts 7-7 on either side before the Flames goalkeeper William Thole saved Lukas Mutoshi’s penalty for Zambia.

At that stage, all Malawi needed was for the next penalty taker Wisdom Mpinganjira to convert his attempt. Unfortunately, the winger fired his shot against the post before the Zambia goalkeeper stopped Ephraim Kondowe’s attempt. Thereafter, Joseph Mulenga converted the decisive spot kick to win it for the Chipolopolo.

Zambia will now meet Zimbabwe in the final after they eased to a 3-0 victory over Botswana in a late kick off at the same venue on Saturday. A third-place playoff will involve the Zebras and the Flames.

Football associations for the four nations hatched the tournament idea to fine-tune for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers taking advantage of the FIFA window for international games.