By Mabvuto Kambuwe in Luanda, Angola:
Malawi National Football Team Coach Kalisto Pasuwa believes the loss to Angola is just a setback but not the end of the team’s hopes in the 2027 Pamoja Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers.
Pasuwa was reacting to a 3-1 defeat to Angola’s Palancas Negras at Estadio 11 de Novembro in Luanda, Angola, on Tuesday night.
It was Malawi’s first loss in the qualifiers after beating South Sudan 2-1 at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe City last month.
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Despite the loss, Pasuwa said it was too early to throw in the towel.
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“It is too early [to lose heart]; we cannot talk of surrendering now. We still have a lot of matches to go, so it is game on. We go back and collect mistakes so that we can match teams that are on top of the log table,” Pasuwa said.
He said there were many reasons to believe in the Flames.
“Remember, these teams will play away and will also come to Malawi. So, we will make sure to get the points to be at par with these two teams. We are taking each match as it comes; so, it is too early to surrender now,” Pasuwa said.
Following the defeat, the Flames are now in third position with three points from two matches.
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They trail both Egypt and Angola by one point going into Match Day three and four later next month.
Malawi will face Egypt in back-to-back fixtures next month whereas Angola will meet South Sudan.
The Flames must at least collect a point against Egypt and pray that Angola drop points against South Sudan.
As things stand, both Egypt and Angola look in pole position to seal qualification from the group.
However, it is too early to call as all the four teams have mathematical chances of qualifying for next year’s Afcon finals, to be staged in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.
The Flames need at least nine points from the remaining four matches in the group to punch their ticket to the Afcon finals.
Two defeats would end Malawi’s hopes of reaching the Promised Land, having missed two consecutive editions in 2023 and 2025 in Ivory Coast and Morocco, respectively.
This puts more pressure on Pasuwa, who was tasked to take the Flames to the Afcon finals and win the Cosafa Cup in two years.
Malawi will wrap up the qualifiers with a fixture against Angola at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe in March next year.
Meanwhile, Pasuwa has said his charges gave Angola’s Palancas Negras too much respect, especially in the first half.
“It was a match where we started slowly because we arrived late due to problems of traffic. Our time for warm-up was cut shot due to the time we were supposed to do warm-ups.
“We tried to warm up the boys but when the match started, we started slowly and gave our opposition too much respect. They had a lot of possession in our half and we ended up conceding goals,” Pasuwa said.
Felicio Mendes Joao, Cristavao Mabululu and Pinto Domingos scored for Angola whereas Kialonda Gaspar scored into his own net.
Sports analyst George Chiusiwa said it was high time Malawi started managing expectations.
“Aliou Cissé. Of course, he is not an ordinary football coach in Africa. Perhaps, it is about time we started managing our expectations when playing against teams that are well drilled and are also properly oiled technically and tactically,” he said.
The teams are fighting for the remaining 21 slots at next year’s Afcon finals as Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda qualified as hosts.
