Malawi end young Zebras� dream
Thato Kala | Monday April 28, 2014 11:29
With the first leg drawn 1-1, the Young Zebras hoped to finish off the Malawians at home, but this was not to be. The visitors posted a stellar second half performance to punish Botswana for some erratic defending and wasted opportunities in the first half.
Botswana dominated the first half and created many scoring opportunities, but they all went begging as the Young Zebras’ strikers fired blanks. Innocent Morapedi’s boys were duly punished for poor defending when Silver Stars’ striker, Kaonga Chawananga squeezed in a shot in the 53rd after a goalmouth melee.
Botswana defenders had failed to clear a seemingly easy ball, allowing the dangerman to score. Chawananga was back again in the 65th minute to haunt the hosts, slotting in the second goal with the help of a deceptive deflection by Lebogang Ditsele. The two goals were enough to consolidate an improved second half performance by the visitors.
A beautiful 88th minute goal by Onkabetse Makgantai was not enough for the Young Zebras as Malawi held on for victory.
Malawi coach Ernest Mtawali made five chances to the team that hosted the Young Zebras in Blantyre in the first leg. They looked lost in the first half, but still managed to hold on and keep their opponents at bay. After the breather, Malawi returned a tactically superior side than their opponents. The Young Zebras will regret the chances fluffed in the first half with captain Unobatsha Mbaiwa being the main culprit. In the 20th minute, Makgantai’s header missed the target before Thero Setsile shot wide as Botswana camped in Malawi’s half.
Mtawali made a well-timed change, six minutes into the second half when he introduced Ernest Tambe for Benson Manyozo. Two minutes after the change, Malawi grabbed the opener as Chawananga took advantage of a defensive mix up by the hosts. Morapedi then brought in Keabetswe Sebika for Setsile.
Two minutes later, Botswana came close to scoring, but saw a Makgantai effort bounce off cross bar back into play.
The Young Zebras suffered a setback in the 58th minute when reliable defender Thato Kebue limped off to be replaced by Keorapetse Seloiso. Seven minutes later, Chawananga cut through the Young Zebras’ defence to slot home and kill the match as a contest.
Afterwards, it was another story of miss chances by the Youth Zebras until the last gasp face-saver that proved meaningless. Morapedi said they lost because of the missed chances in the first half. “It is the same thing that happened in Malawi. We created a lot of chances and could have buried them early in the game,” he told Monitor Sport.
Mtawali expressed satisfaction over the display by his charges and promised a better performance in the next rounds. “This is wonderful. We have great stars who needs more support from both government and us as individuals,” he said.
He said he would work hard in the second round against the DRC to ensure qualification for the finals.