No bad blood
Nyasa Big Bullets and Mafco FC step onto Civo Stadium pitch today with a mission –to advance to the Carlsberg Cup semifinals, with both claiming that last week’s incident is water under the bridge.
The match between the two sides was called off at the 11th hour last week following a fracas that led to the suspension of Mafco’s key players, Richard Mbulu, Paul Ndlovu, Stain Malata and Bullets’ second-choice keeper Chimwemwe Kunkwawa.
Mafco coach, Thomas Maloya, has pleaded with fans to understand that football is a game and not war.
Probably his message is a clear sign that he does not want a repeat of the Chitowe incident.
Some might think that Mafco, without Mbulu, Malata and Ndlovu, will be a weak side but Maloya believes that he has secret weapons to stop Bullets.
“We have many good players. We lost a lot of players before the season and nobody gave us a chance to perform well. Our focus is on winning the match. We have put behind everything that happened,” Maloya said.
However, just like any other cup game, tension is expected in today’s match.
Bullets Technical Director, Billy Tewesa, said there was no bad blood between the two teams.
“It will be a tough game considering that Mafco is also a good side. We will try our best to execute our game-plan. We plead with fans to watch the game with sober minds and let football be the winner,” Tewesa said.
In the absence of Mbulu, the soldiers are likely to rely on Joseph Dosah, Saidi Mtekama and Tony Mbulu (Richard’s young brother).
Mafco should be worried with Chiukepo Msowoya, Dalitso Sailesi and Mike Mkwate.
Meanwhile, Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has promised tight security during the match.
“Fam will ensure that there is tight security. The concerned teams are reminded about the fulfillment of their responsibilities as per rules and regulations of the competitions,” reads part of the verdict released by the association this week.
The winner between Bullets and Mafco will face Silver Strikers at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe whereas Be Forward Wanderers will host Mangochi Police next week.
Silver reached the semifinals after beating Red Lions 1-0 at Balaka Stadium. Wanderers dumped Prison United out of the competition whereas Mangochi beat Premier Bet Wizards 3-2 through post-match penalties.
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