The delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals roars into life with host nation Ivory Coast facing Guinea Bissau at Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe Saturday night.
Best African footballers have descended on Ivory Coast for Africa’s biggest soccer showpiece.
However, the Flames are not among the 24 best teams competing in this year’s edition after poor showing in the qualifiers in which they only managed five points from six matches.
Flames legends and some local coaches have predicted an exciting but a rather tough tournament.
Former Flames coach Kinnah Phiri, who led the team to the 2010 Afcon finals in Angola, said he anticipates a competitive tournament.
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“I expect a lot of goals during the tournament. Goals bring a lot of excitement in matches. From the look of things, teams have really prepared well and I expect to be full of surprises,” Phiri, who is also Malawi’s all-time leading goal-scorer with 71 career goals, said.
Phiri also said he will be happy to see teams from the Cosafa region in the round of 16.
Cosafa has four representatives at this year’s Afcon finals namely 1996 winners South Africa, 2012 winners Zambia, Namibia and Mozambique.
Former Flames midfielder Peterkins Kayira also concurred with Phiri saying there could be more surprises.
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“Football has changed in Africa, there are more teams with a lot of players playing in top leagues in Europe. For me, it will be difficult to predict which team will win the Afcon,” Kayira said.
On his part, Chitipa United Coach Macdonald Mtetemera also said the delayed 2023 Afcon finals will be full of surprises.
“Some teams should not be underrated. Anything is possible. We hope to watch an exciting tournament,” Mtetemera, who guided Chitipa to position four in the TNM Super League, said.
Neighbours Zambia will kick start their campaign against Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Wednesday whereas Namibia will meet Tunisia on Tuesday before meeting South Africa.
Mozambique date Egypt Sunday.
The Flames reached the round of 16 during the 2021 delayed Afcon finals held in Cameroon.
Then, the Flames registered a 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe and a famous goal-less draw against Senegal, who went on to win the tournament after beating Egypt 4-2 on penalties after a goal-less stalemate in regulation time.
Senegal triumphed against Egypt in Cameroon to win the accolade for the first time.
