Malawi National Women’s Football Team head coach Lovemore Fazili has hailed his players following their emphatic 7-0 victory over Zimbabwe at the National Sports Stadium, which secured a commanding 9-0 aggregate triumph in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games qualifiers.
The Scorchers produced a dominant performance, particularly in the second half, to complete the job after carrying a 2-0 advantage from the first leg at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
Temwa Chawinga led the scoring with a hat trick, while captain Tabitha Chawinga, Chisomo Banda, Asimenye Simwaka and Sarah Mulimbika also found the back of the net.
Speaking after the match, Fazili expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance, describing the victory as a reflection of the progress made following their historic campaign at the 2026 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
“I am extremely happy with today’s performance because winning 7-0 is not an easy achievement. It shows that the team played very well, and I think every player who was given an opportunity performed exceptionally well,” said Fazili.
“This is the kind of performance we have been looking for and expecting from a team coming from WAFCON. It is a great achievement, and I salute the players and my fellow technical panel members.”
Malawi took control of the encounter early, with Temwa opening the scoring in the 10th minute before doubling the advantage on the half-hour mark after receiving a brilliant pass from Ireen Khumalo.
Zimbabwe had an effort disallowed in the 21st minute, but the Scorchers maintained their dominance and went into the break leading 2-0.
Fazili introduced Faith Chinzimu for Madyina Nguluwe at half time, and the Scorchers returned with greater attacking intensity.
Captain Tabitha extended the lead in the 52nd minute after being set up by Simwaka before turning provider three minutes later, setting up Temwa to complete her hat trick.
With Malawi firmly in control, the Chawinga sisters were withdrawn in the 60th minute and replaced by Chisomo Banda and Sarah Mulimbika.
The substitutions proved effective as the Scorchers continued to dominate proceedings.
Chisomo struck a spectacular goal from 20 metres in the 86th minute before Simwaka added the sixth two minutes later following a pass from Rose Kadzere.
Mulimbika completed the rout in the 90th minute after being set up by Chinzimu.
Fazili also praised goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo and the defensive unit for keeping clean sheets in both legs of the qualifiers.
“First of all, I have to thank our goalkeeper, Mercy Sikelo, for keeping clean sheets in both matches. I also want to appreciate the defenders and midfielders,” he said.
“It shows that what we have been emphasising during training has produced results. We are now very confident in the team’s ability to play without conceding goals.”
Despite the convincing victory, Fazili admitted that there are still areas requiring improvement as the team prepares for the next stage of the qualification campaign.
“We have a team capable of playing without conceding goals, and we want to continue building on that,” he said.
“Although we won 7-0, there are still some problems that we identified during the match. We will work on correcting them when the players regroup for the next camp.”
The victory saw the Scorchers advance to the next round of the Olympic qualifiers with nine goals scored and none conceded across the two legs.
