…Copper Queens lose Cosafa crown to Malawi
By MICHAEL MIYOBA
THE 2023 COSAFA women’s championship final ended in agony for the defending champions Zambia after losing the regional trophy to rivals Malawi following a 2-1 loss at the Lucas ‘Masterpiece’ Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville, South Africa.
Enelesi Phiri’s equaliser from a penalty in the 83-minute couldn’t help Zambia to defend the regional title as Asimenye Simwaka and Sabina Thom scored the important goals which handed Malawi their first Cosafa Cup title.
Despite having lost the title, Copper Queens assistant coach Florence Mwila said she was proud of ther girls for putting up a determined fight.
“From the beginning of the tournament we knew that as defending champions it was not going to be easy for us because we knew that every team was going to come with force and we are just proud of the new girls that they could even reach this far,” Mwila said
“The tournament has been great and you can see so much improvement in women’s football. Congratulations to Mozambique, they have been pushing and pushing and today they are getting bronze, we are headed in the right direction,” she said.
As defending champions, Zambia kicked off the match on a high but it was Malawi who had the first dangerous attempt when Temwa Chawinga headed over the bar after meeting Asimenye Simwaka’s cross.
Zambia almost went ahead in the 10th minute but where unlucky as Sarah Jere sent her low shot into the arms of the goal keeper Mercy Sikelo.
Malawi finally went ahead five minutes after the half hour mark through Simwaka who benefitted from Chawinga’s assist.
Malawi thought they had doubled their advantage through Thom in the last minute of the first stanza but VAR ruled the goal out after it was discovered that Chawinga fouled Lushomo Mweemba in the build-up to the goal.
The Copper Queens had to wait for 82 minutes for the equaliser as Phiri scored from a penalty spot after Malawi handled inside the 18-yard box.
A minute into injury time, Thom restored Malawi’s lead, smashing the ball into the net from close range after Mweemba failed to deal with a dangerous ball in the box.
The seven minutes added to the match couldn’t help Zambia recover as Malawi held on to win their first regional trophy.
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