Malawi were held to a 1-1 draw by Lesotho in a disappointing display in a friendly match played at Bingu National Stadium on Saturday.
The Flames took the lead after 20 minutes when Micium Mhone finished from Alick Lungu’s excellent pass from the left flank.
The lead was deserved as the Mario Marinica’s men were the better side in the entire first half.
The second half saw the little improvement from the home side after Marinica made a three changes as he brought in Frank Willard, Clever Nkungula and Chiukepo Msowoya for Chimwemwe Idana, Brighton Munthali and Christopher Kumwembe.
Lesotho pulled level with 15 minutes to go through Jane Thabantso who scored from the spot following a handball by Miracle Gabeya in his own box.
The visitors continued to pile pressure on Malawi but they failed to utilize their chances until Newton Nyirenda blew the whistle to mark the end of the encounter.
“We are on the right track, we knew that players are unfit because most of them haven’t played since 17th December so we knew that they will struggling at some point but obviously we have time to improve. We have given chance to some youngsters and try to see how they can perform so it was an important friendly as we prepare for upcoming AFCON qualifiers game against Egypt” said Marinica
When asked to comment on Flames supporters reaction who started supporting Lesotho after the equalizing goal he said: “You can’t tell fans what to do, obviously is not pleasing to see that things happen but patriotism is important, they need to be behind the country in whatever situation it is”
Lesotho Head Coach Vesel8n Jelusic said the game has given him an opportunity to assess his players ahead of the match against Zambia.
“For us the results was not the most important in this game but it was an opportunity for us to prepare for our upcoming CAF fixture against Zambia. I think the game was balanced with Malawi controlling the first half while us dominating the second half and overall iam satisfied with this game” he said
The Flames will face Egypt in Cairo on 24th March in AFCON qualifiers.
