Malawi National Football Team is expected to shrug off the fear factor when it faces Senegal in a 2025 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier at Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Dakar Friday night.
The match kicks off at 9pm Malawi time.
This is a crucial match for the Flames given the permutations in Group L where they are bottom without a point from two matches.
Currently ranked 133rd in the world and 39th in Africa, the odds are heavily stacked against Malawi who have not performed well in recent times.
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Tonight’s clash comes on the back of three consecutive defeats in all competitions for the Flames.
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On the other hand, Senegal are second in the group with four points from two matches, below Burkina Faso on goal difference. Burundi are third with three points.
The Flames have a huge task to upset the Lions of Teranga at the latter’s own back yard to keep their slim qualification hopes alive.
After tonight’s encounter, Malawi will host Senegal at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Tuesday.
Heading into the match, the Flames have lost six of their seven matches in all competitions with the 3-1 victory over minnows Sao Tome and Principe in June being the only positive outcome since November last year.
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The Flames started the qualifiers with a 3-2 home loss to Burundi before enduring a 3-1 defeat to Burkina Faso last month.
Meetings between Malawi and Senegal have been rare with just four since 1987.
The meetings have seen the Flames beating the West Africans just once, with two losses and one stalemate.
The single win was a 2-0 result during the 1987 All Africa Games in Kenya.
But Senegal avenged defeat during a friendly match in 2007, winning by the same margin.
Malawi also lost 2-1 to Senegal at the Cosafa Cup tournament in South Africa in 2021 before a famous goalless draw during the Afcon finals in Cameroon.
Ahead of the clash, Flames coach Patrick Mabedi believes the Flames can match the former African champions.
’’Senegal are a very good team. They have big players and indeed big names. But it will be 11 against 11 and it is about who wants it most. I prefer to play against big teams where mentally you will be prepared knowing that you are playing against the best. We just need to come up with a good plan so that we do well,’’ Mabedi said.
However, Mabedi admitted his boys need to double their efforts to upset the star-studded hosts.
’’There is a lot at stake. We are still without a point and we are playing a very good team. We will have to dig deeper to get the points we need. We know it will not be easy but it is an important match for us.
’’We are the only team in the group without points, so we need to work extremely hard so that we get three points which can help us to boost confidence,’’ he added.
Mabedi has travelled with a 20-member squad that has experienced players such as captain John Banda, Yamikani Chester, Llyod Njaliwa, Dennis Chembezi and Chawanangwa Kaonga.
The Flames had four days of training in Dakar ahead of the match.
This is the first match for the Lions of Teranga since the departure of Aliou Cisse who was in charge for nine years.
Cisse’s former assistant Pape Thiaw has taken over on an interim basis.
Thiaw has assembled a strong squad which comprises world class players such as Sadio Mane, Nicholas Jackson, Kalidou Koulibaly, Pape Gueye and Pape Cisse.
