Malawi National Football Team former stars Robert Ng’ambi and Peter Banda are on the list of 10 top players who have gone on to shine after playing in the Cosafa Under-17 Championship.
Cosafa has released the list ahead of the TotalEnergies Caf Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations Cosafa qualifiers set for Johannesburg from December 4-13.
In a report posted on its website, the regional football governing body stated that its under-17 championship has seen a number of the region’s top stars pass through the competition over the years, providing the introduction to international football at an early age.
“Some have gone on to have stellar careers, while others have faded into obscurity, unable to turn their talent as a teen into a professional career,” part of the report reads.
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Ng’ambi has taken up a coaching career and attended the recent Caf B Licence course at Football Association of Malawi’s Mpira Village.
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He retired from active football in 2020 and Cosafa has acknowledged his finishing as a top scorer in the 2001 Under-17 Championship.
“He left Black Leopards in the South African Premier Soccer League at the end of the 2019/20 season, but also enjoyed a successful spell with Platinum Stars, where he won the MTN8 and Telkom Knockout. He had an excellent career as a goal-scoring midfielder and it is a surprise to many that he was not snapped up by bigger teams over the years,” the report reads.
On Banda, the report reads: “The Malawian winger is the son of former international Chikondi Banda and netted five goals in the 2016 Cosafa Men’s Under-17 Championship as he helped the junior Flames to the bronze medal.
“He played for top local side [FCB Nyasa] Big Bullets, helping them to the league title in 2019, before a loan spell in Moldova with Sheriff Tiraspol. His switch to leading Tanzanian side Simba SC allowed him to play on the continental stage.”
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Banda has returned to Bullets and is due to fly out to Kenya for treatment of his problematic shoulder injury.
Other stars on the list are Delron Buckley, Archford Gutu, Steve Lekoelea, Chisamba Lungu, Patson Daka, Lameck Banda, Zito Luvumbo and Joseph Banda.
