Mixed fortunes for Malawi U-15

Malawi Under-15 Boys National Football Team’s Tier C quarterfinal hopes at the Fifa Under-15 World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan went up in smoke yesterday following a 7-2 loss to Luxembourg in a round of 16 match.

They have now dropped to Tier D quarterfinals, where they will compete against other teams that have also lost in Tier C.

The latest defeat came barely six hours after the Malawi team registeried a 2-0 victory over Hungary in Tier C round of 32.

Takutzwa Maluwe, who now leads Malawi’s scoring chart with seven goals, and Miracle Ndovi were on target in both matches at the Hovsan Competition Complex.

Malawi Under-15 coach Joseph Malizani said he was impressed with the overall performance of his boys despite the latest defeat, which is the third in seven matches.

“We played well in both matches but it was just unfortunate that we lost today’s last match. We expect to do better in our next match,” he said.

Maluwe (L) and Ndovi celebrate a goal against Hungary.

| Courtesy of FAM

Malawi slipped to Tier C after finishing third in Group B with nine points from five matches, registering comeback victories over Chinese Taipei, Oman and Suriname before suffering defeats to Algeria and Argentina in their final two fixtures on Monday.

Group winners advanced to Tier A and the eventual winner will be named World Cup champions.

Malawi has so far scored 15 goals and conceded 19 in seven games with six different players finding the net.

According to www.fifa.com, every team will continue playing through to the final match-day in their respective tiers to ensure consistent and meaningful competitive experience for all participants.

The eight-a-side competition, divided into 32 groups, attracted 189 Under-15 teams from six confederations.

The games are being played on 68x47metre pitches with 40 minutes per fixture.

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