Malawi National Football Team Coach Patrick Mabedi has called for timely and adequate preparations if the Flames are to have realistic chances of qualifying for both 2026 World Cup and 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Mabedi made the call after observing how some of the Flames opponents in World Cup qualifiers performed at the just ended 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Flames are in Group H of the World Cup qualifiers together with Namibia, Equatorial Guinea and Tunisia, who were in Abidjan, Ivory Coast taking part in Afcon finals.
Namibia and Equatorial Guinea reached the round of 16 whereas Tunisia bowed in the group stages.
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Mabedi said most Flames opponents have players overseas which gives them an edge over their counterparts.
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“With proper preparations we can achieve tangible results. If we do not do as planned it will be a challenge because those teams have been active and remember 98 percent of our local players are inactive because we are in an offseason,” he said.
Mabedi friendlies against recognised opponents would also help the Flames fine tune.
Meanwhile, National Football Coaches Association Chairperson Aubrey Nankhuni has backed Mabedi saying the team needs to have friendlies with at least an opponent that was at the just ended Afcon finals.
“We need friendlies as soon as possible if we are to do better in the World Cup qualifiers. We also need to utilise Fifa calendar date by engaging strong teams to help our players who have been idle for the past two months now,” Nankhuni said.
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However, Football Association of Malawi Technical Subcommittee Chairperson Christopher Kuyera did not respond to our questionnaire when contacted.
In World Cup qualifier, the Flames will host São Tomé E Príncipe and Equatorial Guinea away in June.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football announced the kick-off date for the qualifiers of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The preliminary round will take place from March 18 to 26, 2024.
The first and second round matches are scheduled from September 2 to 10.
The third and fourth round games will take place from September 7 to 15.
The final rounds of the qualifiers are slated for November 11 to 19.
