Malawi scorchers head coach Lovemore Fazili says his side wants to win the match against the Copper Queens on Sunday after at the Three Nations Tournament.
Fazili says he will field a strong team against Zambia and wants an improved performance from their 2-1 shock loss in the first game against Zimbabwe.
He is confident the players who he will field this afternoon will give their best as it will be similar to the starting XI that beat Zambia in the second of two friendly games in Lusaka back in February.
“First of all, I think playing Zambia tomorrow (today) is a totally different game than what we played against Zimbabwe. But I’m not trying to underrate Zimbabwe. They gave us a good little test yesterday. And Zambia, we have played them before. It’s a strong side as well. We have been playing AFCON for so long. First of all, what we’ll be looking at from the game is how we’re going to perform compared to what we played yesterday. That’s our first thing. And secondly, we’ll try to put the team which is definitely going to participate next year in the AFCON. So the game is going to be tough, but we’ll try as much as possible to have a better performance than what we did yesterday. We’ll try to put All the mercenaries,” he said.
“Mainly, the team which is going to play tomorrow, I think it’s going to be similar to the same team which played the game with Zambia in Lusaka. So the players, I think it’s almost three quarters of the players, they’re going to play tomorrow. So I’m very sure that whoever is going to be given a chance to play tomorrow, I think they’re going to give their best. And with a loss yesterday, I’m very sure that the performance of tomorrow’s game I think is going to be very different from what we played against Zimbabwe,” he added.
Fazili says his side missed a lot of chances against Zimbabwe but will polish up and do better against Zambia as they are eying a win.
Fazili believes the loss against Zimbabwe will push the players to get a win today because they not happy with the result they got two days ago.
“Yeah, exactly. We created chances yesterday, but we couldn’t make it or convert it to goals. But, you know, in football, most of the times I think we see or miss such types of situations. And I’m very sure we’re having training today and we will try to rectify those problems because it’s an issue of finishing. So I’m very sure whatever we’re going to do this afternoon, I think we’ll try as much as possible to let the players know that it’s more important to finish those chances than let it go. So we’ll try, as I’ve said, to polish in those areas. And I’m very, very sure that I think tomorrow, I think we’re supposed to win the game,” he said.
“ Yes, it gives us a high edge of winning tomorrow because coming from a loss yesterday, I think players are not feeling happy. So I think they’ll come out tomorrow and deliver to win the game tomorrow.”
Coach Charles Haalubono will lead the team in the absence of Coach Nora Elizabeth Häuptle who did not travel after failing ill in her home country Switzerland.
The two neighbors will face off at 17:00 hours at the Bingu National Stadium.
The tournament, featuring Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, is being used to prepare the Southern African teams ahead of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON). The Three Nations Tournament, which began on 28th November, will conclude on 2nd December 2025.
