* She went down with a worrying looking injury and was carried off the pitch by her teammates in the first half after going to the turf with a non-contact injury
* She’s in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) now as we speak. Once you get the results from the MRI, we’ll know a little bit more. It’s not her knee, it’s just the upper leg
* MRI is a medical imaging technique that uses a powerful magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed pictures of the body’s organs, soft tissues, bones, and blood vessels
By Duncan Mlanjira
US-based Temwa Chawinga, who was named in Malawi Scorchers’ squad to face Angola in the first leg of the final qualifying matches of the Wonen’s African Cup of Nations (WAfCON) scheduled for Thursday, October 23, is reported to have picked an injury during her Kansas City Current’s match against Houston Dash on Saturday.
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A report by Pro Soccer Wire indicates that Temwa went down with a worrying looking injury in her side’s 1-0 defeat against the Houston Dash and was carried off the pitch by her teammates in the first half after going to the turf with a non-contact injury.
“We don’t have [an] exact update on her,” Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski is quoted as saying by Pro Soccer Wire after the game. “She’s in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) now as we speak. Once you get the results from the MRI, we’ll know a little bit more. It’s not her knee, it’s just the upper leg.”
MRI is a medical imaging technique that uses a powerful magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed pictures of the body’s organs, soft tissues, bones, and blood vessels.
Temwa is the US National Women Soccer League (NWSL) reigning Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player (MVP) winner, and the 27-year-old is reported to be on track to repeat in both categories this season.
She has 15 goals this season, two ahead of Gotham FC’s Esther González with just one match remaining. After clinching the top seed in the playoffs the KC Current earned a bye to the quarterfinal round, which will take place between November 7-9.
The Scorchers will Angola in the return fixture on Tuesday, October 28, at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe — whose winners will qualify for the WAfCON 2026.
The domestic league players who reported for camp were joined by four foreign-based stars — Chimwemwe Madise, (TP Mazembe, DRC), Vanessa Chikupila (Biik Kazygurt, Kazakhstan), Tendai Sani (ZISD), and Chisomo Banda (Konkola Blades Queens, Zambia).
Temwa and her sister, Tabitha (Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, France), Rose Kabzere (Montpellier, France) and Faith Chimzimu (BK Hacken, Sweden) are expected to join the squad in Angola on Tuesday.
If the coach Lovemore Fazili’s squad triumph over Angola, it will be a great milestone that would mark the Scorchers’ first-ever qualification to the prestigious continental showpiece.
The coach was given eight opportunities to work around his players through international friendlies against Zambia, South Africa, Morocco, Uganda and Lesotho — losing 0-2 and winning 3-2 in two games against Zambia in February and losing 0-4 on aggregate (0-2 each in two games) against South Africa in April.
They went on to lose 2-4 against Morocco in June in a match the Scorchers led 2-0 up until the 40th minute from goals by France-based captain, Tabitha in the 27th minute from the penalty spot and from another France-based Kabzere eight minutes later (35’).
But in the 40th, Bernadettar Mkandawire scored an own goal as she was trying to clear the ball from the line and from there the hosts opened the floodgates to score three more in 42’, 56’ and in added time.
A few days later still in Morocco, they lost 1-3 to Ghana in their 6th international friendly and again, the Scorchers went ahead in the 15th minute through Tendai Sani but went on to lose 1-3 — goals conceded in 23’, 32’ and 81’; while against Lesotho played at Mpira Stadium, Asimenye Simwaka scored 5 goals in two 3-0 victories.
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