Malawi National Football Team Assistant Coach Peter Mponda believes the Flames have what it takes to break the Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup jinx this year.
Mponda was speaking on Tuesday after the Flames concluded their preparations for this year’s Cosafa Cup, which got underway in Mangaung, South Africa, Wednesday.
He said the 2024 Cosafa edition provides the Flames with a perfect opportunity to write their own piece of history.
“It is unfortunate that we have been participating since 1997 but we have not won it. We feel that we have taken a strong squad to take us to the semi-finals and see what happens if we reach the finals and try to win it. We are going there to compete and try to bring the cup home,” Mponda said.
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The Flames have never won the Cosafa Cup since its inception in 1997.
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They, however, finished as runners-up in 2002 and 2003.
This year, Mponda believes that there is renewed hope in the Flames camp after good preparations.
“We are very happy with our preparations. We have tried to find the balance between giving exposure to some of the guys and also going to the tournament and try to win it,” he said.
The FCB Nyasa Big Bullets gaffer was in charge of the team’s preparations due to the absence of coach Kalisto Pasuwa, who was recovering in Zimbabwe.
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Pasuwa joined the team in South Africa Wednesday.
The Zimbabwean mentor has included some of the seasoned campaigners in his 23-member squad for the Cosafa Cup.
Goalkeeper George Chikooka, Maxwell Paipi, Macdonald Lameck, Wisdom Mpinganjira, Yankho Singo, Gaddie Chirwa and Wongani Lungu have travelled with the team.
Meanwhile, the Flames will be seeking revenge when they start their Group B campaign against Lesotho at Toyota Stadium this afternoon.
The match kicks off at 3pm.
This is a repeat of the 2023 semi-final clash between the two sides, in which the Flames’ dream of reaching the Cosafa Cup final went up in smoke following a 3-0 loss on post-match penalties after the match ended goal-less in regulation time at King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban, South Africa.
Then, Malawi reached the semi-finals with a 100 percent record following a 1-0 victory over Zambia, before beating Comoros and Seychelles by 2-0 margins.
After missing last year’s edition following the death of State Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima in a plane crash, the Flames will be hoping for a positive start.
But Lesotho have been Malawi’s bogy team in all competitions.
Malawi have failed to beat Lesotho in the previous five matches since 2016.
Lesotho’s Likuena (Crocodiles) knocked the Flames out of the 2016 Cosafa Cup after beating them 1-0.
Then, it was Lesotho’s first win over Malawi in 36 years.
Since then, they have won three matches, with two matches ending in stalemates.
Malawi last beat Lesotho during the 2005 and 2008 Cosafa Cup.
The Flames will face Namibia in the second match this weekend before meeting Angola on Tuesday.
