Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, must guard against complacency when they face Comoros in the TotalEnergies African Nations (Chan) championship second leg at Bingu National Stadium this afternoon.
Heading into the tie, the Flames have an advantage following a 2-0 victory in a match played at the same venue last week.
In this tie, a draw would be enough to propel the Flames to the second round of the playoffs.
But the Flames must exercise caution as Comoros can overturn the tie.
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On paper, the odds are stacked against the Islanders but in football, anything can happen.
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In reality, the battle is not over yet.
This is Kalisto Pasuwa’s second game since he was appointed Flames coach on a full time basis.
But he was in charge of two TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Burundi (0-0) and Burkina Faso.
So far, the Flames have not lost a match under the tutelage of the Zimbabwean mentor in three matches.
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Despite the away victory, Pasuwa insisted the battle was not over yet.
“We have played the first match and we have another 90 minutes ahead of us so we need to go with a positive mind for us to get a positive result,” he said.
In this afternoon’s tie, Pasuwa is likely to make changes to the team that started last week’s match.
Attacking midfielder Zebron Kalima, who scored the second goal after his Silver Strikers teammate Binwell Katinji had opened the scoring, is likely to be thrown into the fray.
Goalkeeper George Chikooka will keep his place whereas captain Maxwell Paipi, Nickson Mwase, MacDonald Lameck and Alick Lungu will likely start the match.
Comoros coach admitted that his charges made life difficult for themselves in the first leg.
“Our chances are very slim because we are facing a strong team,” he said.
The overall winner between Malawi and Comoros will face either South Africa or Egypt in the second round.
Egypt and South Africa settled for a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg at Free State Stadium last week.
In other play offs, Algeria awaits the winner between Gabon and Gambia in the second round. Two teams from the playoffs will be placed in Group C alongside Uganda, Niger and Guinea.
Normally, Chan, which is specifically for local-based players, is a 16-team competition.
But with three countries Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya hosting this year’s finals, the number of teams rose to 18.
Caf then decided to add more teams to make it a 20- team competition.
The continental football governing body arranged play offs for countries that had withdrawn from the initial qualifiers.
Since its inception in 2007, the Flames have never qualified for the Chan finals.
