Malawi coach Tom Saintfiet said he was disappointed by their 1-0 defeat to Botswana in an international friendly game on Tuesday.

TOM disappointed with Botswana loss

Flames coach Tom Saintfiet said he was disappointed by their 1-0 defeat to Botswana in an international friendly game which was played at the National Stadium in Gaborone last night.

The Flames succumbed to a 61st minute strike by Zebras’ Jerome Ramatlhakwana.

After dominating the possession in the first half, Malawi were made to chase the shadows in the second half. The Flames made a couple of changes after the break but they could not find the equalizer.

Saintfiet was without no doubt a frustrated man as he hardly sat on his bench. At some stage referee Joshua Bondo had to call him to order alongside his assistant Patrick Mabedi as their side failed to come to the party.

At the end of the game, Saintfiet said, “I’m disappointed to have lost the game because I hate losing. I feel that the goalkeeper (Charles Swini) should have done better to deal with the cross which led to the goal. We played well in the first half but we let Botswana to come at us in the second half.”

The Flames left Gaborone today for their crucial 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Nigeria at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar on Saturday. The Flames’ gaffer pointed out that the game against the Super Eagles is of utmost importance.

“The game against Nigeria is important and I’m happy that the game against Botswana has helped us to prepare because some of the players it was my first time to see them,” said Saintfiet.

Nigeria need a draw to proceed to the next phase of the qualifiers while Malawi need maximum points. The Super Eagles lead the group with nine points while the visitors are second with seven points.