South African football woes continued on Saturday when the national Under-17 side, the Amajimbos, were knocked out of the 8th African Youth Championship qualifiers after losing 2-1 to Malawi in the first round, second leg, played at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.
Having lost 1-0 in the first leg a fortnight ago at Eldorado Park, the Amajimbos exited the competition 3-1 on aggregate, barely a week after their seniors, Bafana Bafana, missed out on a 2010 Africa Cup of Nations finals place in Angola.
Played in a strong wind, Amajimbos took the game to the hosts and pinning the Malawians in their half, though defender Zenzele Zungu had to clear a Malawian goal-bound shot off his line against the run of play.
Chief culprits for the visitors were strikers Andile Khena and Thabiso Khwela, who wasted a number of glorious opportunities, as they had in the first leg.
Instead, it was Malawi who went in front as diminutive midfielder Tony Chitsulo beat Mbongeni Gumede with a stunning 40-metre dipping shot in the 39th minute.
The goal took the steam out of the visitors and they conceded a second goal that all-but sealed the tie just before halftime as a defensive mix-up gave lurking striker Andy Simukonda the opportunity to fire a low shot into the net.
The South Africans came out for the second half firing on all cylinders, especially after the introduction of slippery winger Thomas Serubarube, but once again poor finishing, and to some extent the hosts steely defending, contrived to deny the Amajimbos a goal.
But finally the visitors got a consolation on the dot of fulltime when Lebohang Maloto scrambling the ball into the net from a rebound, two minutes after Andile Khena's well-executed close-range shot had bounced off the upright.
The African Youth Championship finals will be played in Algeria, starting on March 19, 2009.
Saturday, 13 September 2008
Gift of footballs prove a big hit in Malawi
Children in Malawi are keen footballers, but are short of a very important commodity - footballs. This was discovered by the parents of Russell Beswick, chairman of property developer Park Lane, on a visit there in 2007.
As they were returning this year, Bohemia Road-based Park Lane supplied 25 footballs for them to take and hand out to the budding young footballers.
Russell's mother Diana (pictured) handed out some of the balls to the children of Kachalenge School Senger Bay, Salima.
The school has 600 pupils and 4 teachers.
Diana also handed out 80 pens bought by her great grandson, Kyle (pictured buying the pens)seven, with his own pocket money as he had been told of the shortages in Malawi schools by his teacher.
Wanderers’ Tsabalaka receives call-up in Malawi national team
SOCCER - Manzini Wanderers' central defender Elias 'The Horse' Tsabalaka has received a call up to join the Malawian national team, affectionately known as the 'Flames'.
The player left the country a month ago to join a top Malawian side Escom United after failing to reach an agreement with Wanderers on a new contract. According to information gathered, the talented defender impressed the Malawian Premier League champions, coached by Young Chimodzi.
The defender has been making headlines in Malawi media after producing a splendid performance for his team during his new friendly games.
The talented defender will team up with Malawi top striker Noel Mkandawire, who once came to the country with the intention of joining Manzini Sundowns but proved to be too expensive for the Manzini-based outfit. His coach Chimodzi has already recommended Tsabalaka to national team head coach, Kinnah Phiri, who was equally impressed about the player as he attended the game. Chimodzi confirmed yesterday that the player was part of the 'Flames' team preparing for an international friendly game against South Africa on 30 September.
"Elias is a very good and strong defender, who commands his defence so well. We need a player of his calibre in the national team and that is the reason I recommended him to Phiri. I have no doubt that he will leave a mark," he said confidently. The over-excited player confirmed his call up yesterday, saying: "My call-up is actually long over-due. I was supposed to team up with the squad before the start of the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers but due to unforeseen circumstances I could not honour that call-up. The national team’s assistant coach Chimodzi recommended me to head-coach Phiri. The entire national team technical staff came to watch me training with Escom United and were impressed with what they saw. They told me that the only thing left is for them to see me in action for the squad to make sound assessment of my performance." The player said he was looking forward to wearing his national team's jersey and further highlighted that playing for the 'Flames' will open up doors for his dream of playing internationally. The player also clarified the wide-spread belief that he was from Zimbabwe. "My mother is a Zimbabwean, while my father is from Malawi.
I was born in Zimbabwe and grew up playing football in that country and I came straight from Zimbabwe when joining Wanderers.
But, my family, including my sisters, brothers and grandparents are in Malawi," he said.
The Malawi national team will be using the South Africa friendly game to prepare for the next month's 2010 AFCON/World Cup Qualifier against Democratic Republic of Congo.
The player left the country a month ago to join a top Malawian side Escom United after failing to reach an agreement with Wanderers on a new contract. According to information gathered, the talented defender impressed the Malawian Premier League champions, coached by Young Chimodzi.
The defender has been making headlines in Malawi media after producing a splendid performance for his team during his new friendly games.
The talented defender will team up with Malawi top striker Noel Mkandawire, who once came to the country with the intention of joining Manzini Sundowns but proved to be too expensive for the Manzini-based outfit. His coach Chimodzi has already recommended Tsabalaka to national team head coach, Kinnah Phiri, who was equally impressed about the player as he attended the game. Chimodzi confirmed yesterday that the player was part of the 'Flames' team preparing for an international friendly game against South Africa on 30 September.
"Elias is a very good and strong defender, who commands his defence so well. We need a player of his calibre in the national team and that is the reason I recommended him to Phiri. I have no doubt that he will leave a mark," he said confidently. The over-excited player confirmed his call up yesterday, saying: "My call-up is actually long over-due. I was supposed to team up with the squad before the start of the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers but due to unforeseen circumstances I could not honour that call-up. The national team’s assistant coach Chimodzi recommended me to head-coach Phiri. The entire national team technical staff came to watch me training with Escom United and were impressed with what they saw. They told me that the only thing left is for them to see me in action for the squad to make sound assessment of my performance." The player said he was looking forward to wearing his national team's jersey and further highlighted that playing for the 'Flames' will open up doors for his dream of playing internationally. The player also clarified the wide-spread belief that he was from Zimbabwe. "My mother is a Zimbabwean, while my father is from Malawi.
I was born in Zimbabwe and grew up playing football in that country and I came straight from Zimbabwe when joining Wanderers.
But, my family, including my sisters, brothers and grandparents are in Malawi," he said.
The Malawi national team will be using the South Africa friendly game to prepare for the next month's 2010 AFCON/World Cup Qualifier against Democratic Republic of Congo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
