‘Swini Charles better than Richard Chipuwa’
Flames coach Young Chimodzi, has defended his decision to drop goalkeeper Richard Chipuwa from the Cosafa Cup squad and recall Mozambique-based Charles Swini, stating the latter would provide better cover for first choice goalkeeper McDonald Harawa.
Chipuwa was making progress at the international level and he even played in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in a 3-0 loss away to Algeria last year.
However, this time around, the Mighty Be Forward Wanderers goalkeeper, has been dropped from the national team after losing the confidence of the coaches.
In a press brief ing at Football Association of Malawi headquarters in Blantyre on Wednesday, Chimodzi said he was convinced with Swini’s improvement in performance since he joined Mozambique’s Costa Do Sol from Silver Strikers this year.
“He has been in the national team setup for a long time. He has vast experience and has played in the Cosafa tournament before. We thought he could provide good cover for McDonald Harawa,” he said.
“We have been getting reports from Mozambique that Swini is doing well. We recalled him so that we can assess him on our own.”
Chimodzi, however, said all was not lost for all the players that did not make the cut for the Cosafa squad.
“They just have to keep working hard. We have a lot of friendly matches and the Africa Cup of Nations coming up later this year. The players will have the chance to be recalled if they keep on working hard,” he said.
Chipuwa has had an indifferent start to the 2015 Super League season where unconvincing performances against Epac FC and Azam Tigers cost him a place in the Wanderers starting lineup.
He has since failed to feature for the Nomads in the last three matches.
Peter Munthali replaced him against Surestream FC while Bester Phiri featured against Mafco and Civo last weekend
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