Malawi Women’s National Football Team head coach Lovemore Fazili insists the Scorchers are ready for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), even after the team ended its preparations with a chastening 4-0 defeat to 60th-ranked Ghana on Thursday evening in Morocco.
Despite the scoreline, Fazili struck a confident tone, describing the loss as part of a deliberate process of testing his squad’s depth rather than a sign of things to come.
“We have lost 4-0, but as I have said, we are trying to have new faces. We also had opportunities, but we couldn’t convert those chances into goals. We have a team which is ready, and I’m sure that when the tournament starts, we will be in good shape and the goals will be coming,” Fazili said.
The Ghana match was the last of several changes Fazili made to his line-up in search of fresh combinations ahead of the tournament. Yamikani Kaonga started in goal in place of first-choice keeper Mercy Sikelo, while Olivia Phikani also came into the side. Temwa Chawinga started up front, with her sister Tabitha Chawinga held back on the bench.
“It wasn’t a good performance compared to the game against Morocco. Today’s game, I think we made a lot of changes — we put some regular players on the bench and brought in new blood, players who haven’t been given the chance to play. So we are trying to get combinations of these players,” Fazili explained.
“We gave the chance to goalkeeper Yamikani Kaonga; we had Olivia Phikani, Chisomo Banda, Tendai Sani, just to mention a few. We had Tabitha Chawinga, Mercy Sikelo and Ireen Khumalo on the bench.”
Ghana made their intentions clear early, scoring inside eight minutes.
Malawi responded by pushing forward, forcing saves from the Ghanaian goalkeeper against both Temwa Chawinga and Tendai Sani, but a second Ghana goal in the 37th minute put the result beyond much doubt.
Ghana added a third just two minutes into the second half and a fourth in the 73rd minute to complete the rout.
Fazili turned to his bench well before the fourth goal, bringing on Mercy Sikelo, Leticia Chinyamula, Vitumbiko Mkandawire and Maggie Chavula for Yamikani Kaonga, Tendai Sani, Olivia Phikani and Faith Chimzimu.
Rose Kadzere and Temwa Chawinga also made way, for Deborah Henry and Chisomo Banda.
Fazili framed the heavy defeat as a valuable exercise rather than a setback, saying it had sharpened his understanding of the squad’s options.
“I’m very sure that we have learnt a lesson — we have known other players that are capable of playing when given the chance when we start the tournament,” he said.
“We haven’t seen Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga playing together today, but I’m sure that on Tuesday, we will have a team.”
The result means the Scorchers close their warm-up campaign — which began after October 2025’s qualification win over Angola — having managed just two wins from 11 arranged friendly and COSAFA fixtures, against seven defeats and two draws, including a 2-1 loss to hosts Morocco days before the Ghana game.
Malawi open their WAFCON campaign against Nigeria on Tuesday, before taking on Zambia and Egypt in the remaining group-stage matches.
