Kaizer Chiefs legend Patrick Mabedi, now in charge of Malawi, has picked positives and negatives from the 3-1 home win over Sao Tome & Principe in a 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
Mabedi said he was happy that his charges got their second win of the qualifiers at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, as they moved to third place with six points from three games in Group H.
“…I am happy we scored early goals that demoralized the opponents. If we had increased the tempo, we would have scored more goals. Credit to the team because they worked hard and they were able to get into those areas where we struggle to get,” he said.
However, the former Amakhosi skipper had issues with poor finishing and failure to keep a clean sheet against the opposition who are ranked 63 places below the Flames.
“We didn’t start on a high note. We were a little bit slower…I was just disappointed we gave away a cheap goal. In these sort of games, we should get a clean sheet,” Mabedi added.
Chawanangwa Kaonga and Lanjesi Nkhoma’s first-half goals and Chifundo Mphasi’s late strike in between Sao Tome’s Da Silva’s effort sealed the win for the Flames.
Malawi will seek to build on that when facing Equatorial Guinea away in Malabo on Tuesday. Sao Tome anchor the table without a point going into the next encounter against leaders Tunisia who have nine points.
Overall winners of each of the nine groups will automatically qualify for the World Cup finals from Africa, with the remaining ticket to be competed for by four second-best sides.