Vanessa Chikupira, Bernadette Mkandawire and Lyna James have been included in the Malawi women’s team for the Hollywoodbets Cosafa Women’s Championship in South Africa.
The Scorchers coach, Lovemore Fazili, on Sunday named a 23-member final squad to take part in the upcoming competition scheduled to take place in Gauteng from 4-15 October.
Fazili had picked eight players from FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Women for his 42-member provisional squad that played in two international friendly matches that saw Malawi beating the Seychelles women’s team 17-0 in each game in Blantyre.
The other four, Sharon Dzimawu, Tendai Sani, Fauza Muhammad, Pilirani Malora and Mary Chavinda did not make the final cut for the trip after reducing the squad to a final 23-member list for the tournament.
Chikupila, Bullets Women’s leading scorer in the FAM Women’s Football Southern Region League, was one of the players who hit a hat-trick in 45 minutes in the first match played on 25 September at the Mpira Stadium in Chiwembe where defender Mkandawire lasted the whole 90 minutes after Fazili made nine changes at half-time.
In the second game played on 26 September, midfielders James and Sani as well as forward Chavinda, who scored five goals, were featured as Fazili continued assessing the players for his final selection.
The Scorchers, who left for Johannesburg on Monday morning, are in Group A of the 2023 Cosafa tourney alongside South Africa, Eswatini and Madagascar. They will face the hosts on the opening day of the competition which kicks off on Wednesday.
