The unstoppable Malawi Women’s National Football Team, otherwise known as the Scorchers, wrapped up their two-match friendly series against Lesotho’s Mehalalitoe on a high, securing a second successive 3-0 victory at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre on Sunday, August 31st.
The Scorchers also hammered Lesotho with same number of goals last Friday at the same venue to register a double header victory.
In-form goal scoring machine, striker Asimenye Simwaka was the hero once again, netting a stunning hat-trick.
In the second tie, Simwaka, who bagged in five goals in the two matches, brilliantly opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time, rising at the far post to connect with a corner from captain Sabina Thom, before sealing her treble with two second-half headers — the first assisted by Thom and the second by Irene Khumalo.
Enterprising winger Simwaka scored her goals in the first half. She broke the deadlock as early as seven minutes into the game when she let out a short-range strike into the top corner before completing her brace in the 32nd minute with a simple header.
Throughout the game, the Malawi Women’s Football National Team the more dominant side with at least eight chances against Lesotho’s two.
For the better part of the second half, the game appeared a balanced affair with Lesotho trying to battle back with incessant attacks that were stifled by the strong Malawi back-four marshalled by Bernadette Mkandawire.
In the first match, The Scorchers recorded an impressive and banging 3-0 victory over Lesotho in a friendly match played on Friday at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre.
The Scorchers dominated the opening half and went into the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead, courtesy of a superb brace from wonder woman, Asimenye Simwaka.
In the second half, captain Sabina Thom added her name to the scoresheet to seal a convincing win for Malawi.
Head Coach Lovemore Fazili expressed satisfaction with the performance, particularly highlighting the blend of regulars and new players.
Scorchers Head Coach Lovemore Fazili described the encounter as a rollercoaster, noting Lesotho’s strong first-half display but praised his players for adjusting tactically after the break.
“These two matches mean a lot. Most players have shown heart and improvement that they can deliver for the team.
“We believe we will have a good game against Angola in the WAFCON qualifiers,” Fazili said.
He also expressed satisfaction with the performance of the new players who were given opportunities across both matches, highlighting midfielder Funny Moyo, whose introduction in the second half changed the game’s tempo.
“I am very happy that we have a squad with many players who are doing well. Some international players don’t always come for COSAFA, so the performance of the girls has given us confidence,” Fazili added.
The result mirrored Friday’s first match, where Simwaka bagged a brace and Thom added a goal to give the Scorchers another 3-0 win.
The two friendlies form part of Malawi’s build-up to the COSAFA Women’s Championship and the crucial WAFCON qualifiers against Angola in October.
However, Scorchers were without their two international star players, the Chawinga sisters, Tabitha and Temwa, who are currently plying topflight football in France and America respectively.
In the beginning
The Malawi National Women’s football team made its international debut during the 2002 Cosafa Women Championship in Zimbabwe where the team had little success where they were eliminated in the group stages.
In 2003 the team made its African Women Championship debut but lost in the first round of the 2004 qualifiers losing 9-0 on aggregate.
The team then took a break from international scene and went into development only to bounce back in the 2006 for the Cosafa Women Championship in Lusaka Zambia.
They lost 3-0 to South Africa and Angola and beat Lesotho by the same margin.
The team failed to participate in the 2008 Cosafa in Angola as the National Women Football Committee opted to use the available funds for the FAM Cup as a result of lack of sponsorship for tournaments.
The team then made a comeback in 2011 and participated in the Cosafa Cup in Zimbabwe where they beat Lesotho 5-2, lost to Zimbabwe 8-2 and drew 1-1 with Mozambique in the group stages and qualify for the semifinals for the first time.
They lost 5-1 to South Africa in the semi-finals and 3-1 to Tanzania in the match for third place.
After a long break the team bounced back in action in 2015 playing a friendly match against the neighbouring Tanzania on 11th November 2015 in a thrilling match that saw the Scorchers being whipped 2-0.
The team then participated in three conservative COSAFA Women’s Championship between 2017 and 2019 but on all occasions bowed out in the group stages.
In 2012 the team made a second appearance in the CAF African Women Championship Qualifiers losing 9-4 on aggregate.
In 2019 the team made its Olympics Qualifiers debut and beat Mozambique 13-1 in the first round before losing 5-2 to Kenya in the Second Round.
In December 2019 they were officially nicknamed the Scorchers.
In 2021 the Scorchers reached the final of the COSAFA Women’s Championship for the first time following their maiden win over South Africa in the semifinal of the competition held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa between September 18- October 9.
However, the team failed to lay hands on its first COSAFA gold medal after losing 1-0 to Tanzania in the final on Saturday October 9.
2023 COSAFA win
After eight attempts the Malawi Women’s National football finally got it right in 2023 when they won their first COSAFA Women’s Championship after beating Zambia in the 2023 final in South Africa.
The Lovemore Fazili coaches won the cup in style winning all the five matches in open play.
They set the ball rolling by beating hosts and record seven-time champions South Africa’s Banyana Banyana 3-4, before thumping e-Swatini 8-0. They wrapped up their Group A assignments with a 3-1 win over Madagascar. In the semi-finals, Malawi came from behind to beat Mozambique 2-1 in the final before seeing of rivals Zamba in 2-1 in the final.
In individual awards, Temwa bagged the Player of the Tournament and Golden Boot awards after scoring nine goals.
Looking ahead
Scorchers are using the two international friendly matches to measure up their preparations ahead of the upcoming Women African Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualifier against Angola in next month.
This year, the Scorchers have so far played seven international friendlies having also faced Zambia, Morocco and Ghana twice apiece.
National Bank of Malawi (NBM) product development and strategy manager Ibrahim Chapeyama, whose bank has injected K140 million into the team this year, yesterday said they were impressed with the team’s performance and they expect another good result tomorrow.
“We believe we will have a good game against Angola.”
Lovemore Fazili
Scorchers Head Coach
