Scorchers under fireover poor showing

The Scorchers technical panel has come under fire following the team’s performance during their first match at the ongoing Cosafa Women’s Championship in Polokwane, South Africa. Malawi opened their Group A campaign with a 2-0 loss to hosts South Africa’s Banyana Banyana on Wednesday in a match the Scorchers were visibly out of sorts. The performance has raised concerns over the team’s readiness for next month’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Some supporters led by Precious Nkhata, have petitioned Football Association of Malawi (FAM) , demanding changes in the technical panel. Their letter reads in part: “Let’s be clear here. The victory we got under this coach was all depending on individual brilliance of the players such as the Chawingas [Temwa and Tabitha], Rose Kabzere and Faith Chinzimu.

“When these are absent, it’s always a bad result against good teams like South Africa or Zambia in particular.” Another fan, Chifundo Kampanje, said while a loss against Banyana was expected, the performance left a lot to be desired. He said: “I was sure Malawi would lose, but I had hope that we would play quality football. The kind people say ‘yes, they have lost, but they played well’.

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We lost on everything, pitiful” During the match, Malawi attempted just five shots at goal with one on target against South Africa’s 11, with six on target. The Scorchers’ disjointed performance saw the team failing to string more than three passes and consequently had 39 percent possession while the hosts controlled possession at 61 percent. This put Malawi under pressure and ended up committing 13 fouls against South Africa’s six.

Football analyst Twaha Chimuka said the performance highlights structural shortcomings in the team. “The main problem we have with the team is over reliance on individual brilliance. We don’t have a system to unlock defences.

We don’t know how to defend, we don’t know how to form blocks. We don’t know how to cover spaces.” However, football analyst George Chiusiwa said there is room for improvement.

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