Having drawn 1-1 with Angola, Malawi are still winless after two games at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier, while Mozambique defeated Lesotho 1-0 late on at the University of Johannesburg’s AW Muller Stadium on Friday.
Angola have amassed four points after a win and a draw to top Group A, but are joined by Mozambique, also on four points, after they beat Lesotho. Malawi are third after playing two draws and Lesotho are languishing at the bottom of Group A after two losses.
Malawi mainly played direct football to progress up the pitch where central defender Francis Alfanzema and right-back James Msongole played long vertical and diagonal passes behind Angola’s back line.
However, the Malawi forwards’ decision-making in the final third let them down as they could not score. On the other hand, Angola dominated in central midfield where Delfim Luwawu Lucas, Joao Capitao Manelson and Denzel Liyun played quick combination play to progress up the pitch.
Also, Angola penetrated on the right flank where full-back Jose Baptista Kalanguinha overlapped to create numerical superiority in attack and constantly delivered crosses into the penalty area.
In the 50th minute, James Lumbe scored a beautiful free-kick to give Malawi a lead. However, Angola players did not despair as they kept on attacking. Their persistence paid off in the 69thminute when right-back Kalanguinha delivered a cross into the penalty area and Paulo Dias Luvumbo headed into the net to equalise.
