Zambian football was then dealt a tragic blow when the national team perished in the plane crash of 27 April 1993 off the Gabonese coast and Malitoli was one of the experienced players called upon to lead a young team. By this time, he was now playing in a deeper midfield role and was more effective, becoming a permanent fixture as Zambia just missed out on 1994 World Cup qualification and reaching the CAN 1994 final in Tunis where he emerged as Zambia's joint top scorer, netting the winning goal against Ivory Coast in the group stage and the last goal in Zambia's 4–0 defeat of Mali in the semi-finals.