Ongos flounder in Blantyre

Ongos Ladies are out of the running for a semi-final spot at the CAF Women’s Champions League/Cosafa Qualifier in Malawi, following two losses in three days.

Their tournament started with a 3-1 defeat to Zimbabwean side Herentals on Thursday, before another heavy defeat on Saturday, when they lost 3-0 to South Africa’s University of Western Cape.

Ongos coach Agnus Elemu lamented his side’s erratic displays, putting it down to the occasion getting the better of his players.

“I think in the first game we conceded easy goals, which is very disappointing. Again, there wasn’t much difference between the two teams, but when we conceded a penalty, I think my girls started panicking to try to chase the game,” he said.

“The goals motivated the opponents and put pressure on us, which caused the most of our girls to lose their concentration, losing position or discipline, and it just became a bit chaotic where we tried to bring them back.”

Today, Ongos face 2022 Cosafa Qualifiers winners Green Buffaloes, who still harbour hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

Elemu said the team needs to learn to manage matches and build resilience, which is what they would work on ahead of their final clash.

“I think that as much as we can motivate the players, it is about maintaining the players’ discipline on the field so that they stay in the game, because most of the players ended up lapsing here and there,” he noted.

“We will try to work on the players knowing the phases of the game and moments of the game so that they know ‘okay, we are losing, what should we do?’ Those are the moments we need to work on.”

The overall winner of the 10-day tournament will book a place at the CAF Women’s Champions League’s continental finals, joining holders Mamelodi Sundowns, who did not participate in the qualifiers as they had already secured their finals’ slot by virtue of being African champions.