LUSAKA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Malawi national soccer team was disqualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after they lost to Zambia 4-3 on aggregate following a one-all draw at home ground on Saturday, local newspaper Zambia Daily Mail reported on Sunday.

    Zambia however stepped further to the group stage with the overall victory against Malawi.

    The crowd of 25,000 Malawi soccer fans that also included Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe and his sports counterpart Jaffalie Mussa were silenced when Zambia's midfielder Clifford Mulenga fired a fierce dipping shot from the far left in the 29th minute that caught Malawi's goalkeeper Trust Lunda off-guard.

    But Malawi, trying to impress their new English coach Steve Constantine, never relented and their efforts paid off in the 36thminute when Chilikepo Msowoya equalized, sending the Kamuzu stadium in Blantyre into a frenzy.

    Msowoya, who also scored in Malawi's 3-2 loss in the first leg played in Lusaka, took advantage of a rebound to shoot past Zambian goalkeeper Kalililo Kakonje.

    Malawi's luck stopped as they failed to score a second goal in the second half, which meant their exclusion out of the Olympic Games with a final 4-3 loss to Zambia on aggregate.

    The Malawian coach Constantine lost his nerve and kicked the cooler box after the final whistle.

    "It's bad results for us. It's a shame because we would have had a chance for more exposure had we qualified," said the English coach who recently signed a three-year contract with Malawi.

    "We were technically and tactically naive," he added.