The Malawi National football team suffered a humiliating 4-0 home defeat against Egypt in an AFCON qualifiers match played on Tuesday at Bingu National Stadium, Lilongwe.
Goals from Tarek Elsaid Hamed, Omar Marmoush, Muhammad Salah and Zizo handed the Pharaohs victory and lifted them back to the top of group D as they are tied on 9 points with second placed Guinea but the Pharaohs have a superior goal difference.
On the other hand the Flames have dropped to the bottom of the group as they remain tied on three points with third placed Ethiopia who have a better goal difference.
But how did Malawi suffer such a huge heavy home defeat since 1995? The Atlas takes a look at four major points.
Flames destined for mediocrity
The morale, the hype we were hearing from the Flames camp ahead of this game wasn’t apparently shown on Tuesday afternoon. For the better part of the match, Egypt made it look like a training game, sliding the ball around and having frequent shots at goal. Another game played without seriousness which has shattered all the hopes of next year’s AFCON qualification. This is all about poor tactical approach of the matches by Mario Marinica who brought in strange philosophy.
Midfield caught out
The midfield duo of John Banda and Chimwemwe Idana was severally caught off their positions in the first half. For the better part of the match they forgot to provide support to the defending midfielder Charles Petro who had a busy first half.
Petro’s concentration was almost immaculate as he repeatedly stepped in with crucial interceptions and tackles but nobody was available to collect the dead balls.
The poor positioning of midfielders handed Egypt opportunities to penetrate the Flames defense as it lacked the solid layer in front of defence to cover the spaces.
Another lackluster defensive performance
The last two games have been terrible from a Flames’ point of view. Looked soft and fragile in defence, the central Defense of Lawrence Chaziya and Dennis Chembezi failed to read opponents’ moves, building from the back by starting moves was another problem, inviting pressure from opponents as they opted to staying deep in their half, lack of concentration leading to Egypt’s second goal that emanated from a cornerkick and they were also unable to deal with the balls delivered in the box as three of four goals were freely scored inside the box.
Lack of creativity
The team failed to make much impact in the final third as the midfielders were failing to position themselves to be at the the right spot to receive balls and attack opponents spaces with precision. The only time Flames made dangerous attacks it was through fullbacks Alick Lungu and Stanley Sanudi who delivered balls into the box but there was no good supplies from the midfield to Strikers.
