Malawi National Football Team Coach Kalisto Pasuwa is confident that his charges would engage an extra gear when they face tougher opponents in the second round of TotalEnergies Caf African Nations (Chan) play-offs in May this year.
The Flames mentor was reacting after the team advanced to the second round of Chan play-offs following a 4-0 victory over Comoros on aggregate.
Malawi defeated Comoros 2-0 at Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Lilongwe on Sunday last week, six days after registering a similar result at the same venue.
But Pasuwa said he expected to face teams that were aggressive compared to Comoros.
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“We expect to meet opponents who are tougher. We need also to be tougher. In terms of how we prepare ourselves, we need to change. The other side of football, where these guys can be aggressive, I also understand the same way. That is what the Egyptians or South Africans will be doing,” Pasuwa said.
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The Flames are expected to meet Egypt or South Africa in the second and final round of the play-offs.
Egypt and South Africa were facing each other in the second leg in Cairo, Egypt, as we went to press last night.
The Flames will switch focus to the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers as they will host Namibia at BNS on March 20 before facing Tunisia away five days later.
But the Zimbabwean mentor said while some of the local players had impressed during Chan play-offs, they were not yet there.
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“We cannot quickly say they are ready. They are still learning as of now. There are some mistakes they are making as locally-based players but when we play bigger teams in the World Cup, we need to have structures and be solid,” the Zimbabwean said.
The victory over Comoros meant the Flames are undefeated in four consecutive matches in all competitions.
They have won three matches (Burkina Faso 3-0) and Comoros 2-0, 0-2) and registered a goal-less stalemate against Burundi.
Additionally, the team has kept four consecutive clean sheets.
Captain for the locally-based players Maxwell Paipi said they were looking forward to second-round matches.
“We know that our opponents will also be scared playing against us after the two victories over Comoros. We believe, if we prepare well, we also do well,” Paipi said.
In other first-round play-offs, The Gambia defeated Gabon 5-3 on post-match penalties after a goal-less stalemate on aggregate.
The Gambia will face Algeria in the second round.
Two teams from the play-offs will advance to the Chan finals to be staged in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
The teams will be placed in Group C alongside Uganda, Niger and Guinea.
