Morocco Edges Out Malawi in COSAFA Beach Soccer Thriller
The COSAFA Beach Soccer Championships continue to provide an exciting platform for teams to showcase their skills and compete for regional supremacy in the thrilling sport of beach soccer.
DURBAN, South Africa - Malawi's dream of reaching the final of the 2024 COSAFA Beach Soccer Championships was shattered by Morocco in a closely contested, goal-filled semi-final match played at the South Beach Arena in Durban on Friday, writes Happy Valirani.
Morocco emerged victorious with a 9-6 scoreline.
Malawi got off to a flying start, with Dala Simba opening the scoring just two minutes into the game, before O'Brien Nkhumbula doubled the lead moments later to put Malawi 2-0 up.
Morocco pulled one back in the 6th minute, but captain Isaac Kajamu restored Malawi's two-goal cushion with a well-taken free-kick in the 8th minute to end the first period with a 3-1 lead.
Sandram Usi extended Malawi's advantage early in the second period, making it 4-1, but Morocco rallied with two quick goals within four minutes before leveling the scores at 4-4 by the end of the second period.
The final period saw Morocco completely frustrate Malawi, scoring five unanswered goals to take a commanding 9-4 lead.
Martin Biliati scored an own goal for Malawi, while Morocco also gifted Malawi with an own goal. Isaac Kajamu scored a consolation goal for Malawi to make the final score 9-6 in Morocco's favor.
Willy Kumilambe, Malawi's Head Coach, accepted the defeat, citing the high intensity as the reason for their loss. However, he commended his players for their outstanding performance throughout the tournament.
"I'm proud of the way the boys have played. They did everything we told them to do; it's just unfortunate that we lost the game. We lost because the intensity was too much for the boys; you see, our team is not that experienced, and when the heat is too much like that, we started losing concentration," Kumilambe said.
"Our plan was to increase the speed and tight marking. In the first period, we were marking them tightly, but we started loosening up, giving our opponents time to play around," he added.
Malawi will now face Saudi Arabia in the third-place playoff on Saturday, March 23rd, in the early match before Morocco and Mozambique contest the final later in the day. Mozambique beat Saudi Arabia to reach the final.
"We're meeting Saudi Arabia for the third-place finish. I know it's going to be a tough game, but the best thing we can do is to give Malawi a bronze medal. We're meeting them for the second time, but this time around, I promise that we're going to beat them," Kumilambe said confidently.
The COSAFA Beach Soccer Championships continue to provide an exciting platform for teams to showcase their skills and compete for regional supremacy in the thrilling sport of beach soccer.