Zambia face unbeaten Malawi in COSAFA quarterfinals

Zambia begin their 2019 COSAFA Cup campaign this Sunday when they face Malawi in the quarterfinals in Durban.

Kickoff is at 17h30 at Princess Magogo Stadium as Zambia chase their third successive final appearance but still without any silverware since hosting the COSAFA Cup in 2013.

Zambia enjoyed a preliminary round bye but opponents Malawi qualified unbeaten from Group B on 7 points for the June 2 date against the four-time champions.

“We watched Malawi and we saw how they are playing, but again, the game we will play against them be different from the ones they have played so far,” Zambia coach Aggrey Chiyangi said.

“So what is important is we have picked one or two points from them and we will plan for them as we play on Sunday.”

The meeting will be the two sides first at the tournament since 2015 when Malawi beat Zambia 1-0 in the Plate Final.

Chiyangi also returns for his second COSAFA tour following an unsuccessful first in 2016 when they tumbled at the quarterfinal on post-match penalties to eSwatini and later lost in the Plate Final to Namibia.

Sunday’s match not only presents a great opportunity for Chiyangi to redeem himself but also continue from where he left off in March when he oversaw Zambia’s convincing display when they beat Namibia 4-1 in their formality 2019 AFCON Group K qualifier in Lusaka.

Meanwhile, Zambia are sweating on the fitness of key striker Lazarus Kambole who has been restricted to light training following an injury he sustained during practice in Durban.

Sunday will also see Chiyangi hand a goalkeeping debut to either Green Eagles’ Sebastian Mwenge or Power Dynamos’ Lawrence
Mulenga for the number one shirt .

Winner will face defending champions Zimbabwe in the semifinals on June 5 at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Zimbabwe beat Comoros 2-0 on Saturday in their quarterfinal match.