Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, are in unfamiliar territory but coach Patrick Mabedi has backed his charges to stand their ground when they face Equatorial Guinea in a 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier at Stade de Malabo this afternoon.
The match kicks off at 3pm Malawi time.
The Flames, who arrived in Malabo on Saturday afternoon, are looking to build on their 3-1 win over minnows Sao Tome and Principe at Bingu National Stadium on Thursday.
On the other hand, the hosts will be looking to bounce back from their 1-0 loss to Tunisia.
Again, Equatorial Guinea were docked six points for featuring an ineligible player.
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The two teams are separated by 46 places on Fifa rankings, with Equatorial Guinea ranked 79th whereas the Flames are 125th in the world.
In all fairness, the odds are stacked against the Flames, having struggled in Central Africa and West Africa for many years.
However, the Flames exorcised the demons that had been haunting them when they beat Liberia 1-0 in Monrovia.
On top of that, the Flames were not convincing against Sao Tome. They need to up their game to collect a positive result against Equatorial Guinea, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) including beating hosts and eventual champions Ivory Coast 4-0 in the group stages.
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Mabedi knows that the task at hand is not easy and told his charges to double their efforts to beat the hosts in this tie.
“We are facing a strong team. They are very dangerous and we respect them but we do not fear them. We need to be focused and be on top of our game. Overall, we came to compete and win the match,” Mabedi said ahead of the match.
Mabedi has little time to sharpen his striking force, which misfired against Sao Tome at home. The Flames wasted several clear-cut chances.
This is a chance for the Flames to show that Thursday’s win was not a flash in the pan.
Captain John Banda said the players are determined to get a win in today’s match.
“We know that they are a good team but we are motivated ahead of the match. The feeling in camp is good after a win at home,’’ Banda, who will be hoping to play after he was rested against Sao Tome, said.
In this tie, Mabedi will likely ring changes after another influential defender Lawrence Chaziya was also an unused substitute.
But goalkeeper George Chikooka is likely to keep his place after an impressive debut on Thursday.
Patrick Mwaungulu will likely start ahead of Robert Saizi.
Chawanangwa Kaonga, though he scored, was not at his best against Sao Tome.
Lanjesi Nkhoma had a knock against Sao Tome but has travelled with the squad and could be thrown into the fray this afternoon.
The Flames are third with six points, having won two matches and suffered one loss from three matches.
Tunisia and Namibia were in action Sunday as we went to press.
