Malawi U-17 flame Madagascar to open with Victory in AFCON Qualifiers

Malawi’s Under-17 national team opened their CAF U-17 African Cup of Nations qualifiers on a high note, defeating Madagascar 3-1 in Zimbabwe on Friday afternoon.

The Junior Flames delivered a dominant first-half performance, controlling the game from the outset. Left-back Joel Maziya opened the scoring in the 15th minute before midfielder James Lumbe doubled the lead 11 minutes later, giving Malawi a commanding 2-0 advantage at halftime.

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Madagascar responded strongly in the second half, coming close to scoring five times in the opening 15 minutes. However, Malawi extended their lead in the 70th minute when Maziya’s powerful left-footed cross was inadvertently guided into the net by the Madagascar goalkeeper.

The final minutes saw an open contest with both teams pushing forward. The Malawians continued their attacking threat, but Madagascar was awarded a penalty in the 96th minute, which William Rambeloson converted to secure a consolation goal.

Despite the victory, Junior Flames head coach Enos Chatama expressed concerns about his team’s performance, citing several defensive gaps.

“We played under difficult circumstances with only four substitutes on the bench plus the goalkeeper,” said Chatama. “The players were struggling to maintain their positions, which is understandable since we’re missing 5-6 players due to passport issues. With a complete squad, we could have scored more than five goals.”

Chatama acknowledged several areas needing improvement before their next fixture and noted that this year’s squad is weaker than last year’s team, despite the previous group’s failure to qualify. He remains determined to achieve better results this time around.

Ekhaya FC’s 16-year-old midfielder James Lumbe earned man-of-the-match honors for his goal, assist, and commanding midfield display.

The Junior Flames face Zambia in their next match on Sunday, with Chatama anticipating a challenging encounter. “Zambia are always favorites in COSAFA tournaments due to their consistent performances every year,” he said.

Malawi now sits on three points from one game in their group. Their current group standing will be determined this evening when South Africa takes on Zambia at 3:00 PM in what promises to be a closely contested match.