After missing out on qualification for the 2024 African Nations Championship to South Africa, Malawi’s assistant coach has criticised his team for conceding "easy goals".
South Africa’s locally based national team overturned a 1–0 first-leg defeat to Malawi, advancing 2–1 on aggregate to book their place at CHAN 2024 in August.
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Goals from Victor Letsoalo and Neo Maema ensured the job was done, and Bafana Bafana will now line up in Group C at the tournament alongside Guinea, Niger, Uganda, and Algeria.
Malawi were without head coach Kalisto Pasuwa, who was reportedly sidelined due to illness.
Pasuwa’s replacement, assistant coach Peter Mponda, suggested that Malawi gave the game away cheaply.
"The result is not a true reflection of the game. I believe we played very well and tried to contain them in terms of possession in the first 45 minutes,” Mponda said, according to the SABC.
"Yes, South Africa were a bit better than us in the first half as they created a number of chances.
"However, in the second half, we were on top of them, although we were not keeping the ball in the spaces where we could hurt them.
"In terms of possession, we were on top of them. We gave away the goals. They were easy goals. We should have gone to penalties and won the game with the goal we scored in Malawi."
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By Lukhanyo Mtuta
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