"It's Disappointing" - Mponda Says As Malawi Returns Home Empty-Handed

The Malawi National Football team, the Flames, will be returning home to Blantyre, after a disappointing 2025 Cosafa Cup in South Africa.

The Flames failed to score a goal in three games, registering on draw and two defeats. They finished bottom with just a point with Angola getting a qualification in Group B.

Assistant coach Peter Mponda is disappointed with the performance and that they have failed to qualify but he is happy that his charges displayed good football.

Mponda assured Malawians before the competition that the Flames will win the COSAFA this time around after years of merely participation.

He told the press: “We are going there to win and bring the cup home. It’s very unfortunate that we have been participating and not competing, this time we are sure we will compete and win the trophy.”

However, the outcome was different, a move that disappoints him. “It is disappointing that we are out and failed to get results. This is not what we had planned. We created chances but failed to take them, and the most painful moment was to concede silly goals. But all in all the performance was good, we gave boys a platform to showcase what they can do,” he said.

Malawi’s major achievement in Cosafa was to reach the final in 2002 and 2003 and qualification for semifinals in 2023.

During the 2023 season, Malawi finished top of their group B with 9 points ahead of Zambia, Comoros and Seychelles and had all hopes to win the tournament with coach Patrick Mabedi.

In this year’s participation, Malawi lost 1-0 to Lesotho and same margin defeat to Angola plus a goalless draw against Namibia.