Of course, no excuses will be entertained
On Monday evening our beloved and most pampered Flames go into the battle against Mozambique in the Cosafa Cup quarterfinals in Rustenburg.
Back pages of our esteemed newspapers have been awash with stories quoting the Flames mentor Young Chimodzi assuring the nation of success at this prestigious regional tournament.
This also comes amid reports that Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has declared that it would not entertain any excuse if the team falters because they have been given all the needed support, including playing high profile strength testing games.
Fam is right to take that stand because in the past inadequate preparation has been used as an excuse for the coaches’ failure when we all know that our coaches lack tactical acumen and that their mid 70s football techniques have been overtaken by events.
The Flames played against Tanzania where they drew one-all, lost to Zambia 0-2 and as we went to press, they were expected to play against South Africa before meeting Mozambique on Monday.
In his own words, Chimodzi said he had assembled the best local squad which will be beefed up by other foreign-based players. But what he did not say is what step he would take if his ambition did not materialise.
It is painful to some of us who have been in this profession for close to 24 years to clock all these years without seeing much positivity from the Flames. All we have seen is the dark cloud hovering our national team.
It is painful that we have never experienced any explosion of joy that goes with winning the continental trophy. Instead, failure has become a chronic cancer for the Flames despite that a lot of resources have been pumped into the team.
Now that Chimodzi has assured us of victory, 27 years after the Flames last won a regional tournament, we are still waiting with bated breath to receive the Cosafa Cup at Chileka International Airport come early June.
Fam has spent close to K50 million preparing the team for this task, money which could have been channeled to other meaningful football development projects.
It is my sincere hope that if the team fails, the two coaches will simply step down without waiting for external sanctions. Malawians have no time to waste.
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