The Malawian under-23 national soccer team has a difficult task of restoring their country’s dented image.
The locals, who will be home to AmaGlug-Glug for the second leg of the All Africa Qualifier at the Silver Strikers stadium in Lilongwe on Saturday, are expected to avenge the 3-1 defeat which their senior team suffered against Bafana Bafana in Blantyre last month.
The game, which was the first leg of the Cosafa Cup played in front of a 60 000 crowd, was almost marred by violence as the home crowd hurled a barrage of missiles from the stands after Bafana’s third goal.
Bafana went on to beat the Flames 1-0 in the second leg in Durban. It is for this reason that Malawians have pinned their hopes on their junior side to beat South Africa.
The two countries’ junior teams will be fighting for a place in the All Africa Games which will be played in Nigeria next October after a 2-2 draw in their first clash in South Africa last month.
Locals in Lilongwe have also made it clear that AmaGlug-Glug, who could not make use of their home ground advantage at Eldorado Park Stadium, will be edged out of the tournament they hosted in 1999.
The South Africans, who won bronze in 1999, have been distracted by the late withdrawal of players before their departure to Lilongwe on Tuesday.
But coach Conti Kebheka, Barney Kujane (team manager) and other players were confident of producing the most desired result irrespective of the circumstances. However, they concurred that it would have been a plus to have their best soldiers, but still believe that the 18-men squad they have selected will face the winner between Angola and Botswana in the next round.
They flatly dispelled the notion that the unavailability of players such as Nassief Morris, Benedict Vilakazi and Lesley Manyathela had weakened the team.
”All players here were made aware of how important they are as individuals and I believe that the motivational teamtalk we had with them will bear fruits”, said Kujane.
Kubheka, who won silver as a losing finalist in the Cup Patron of Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ four-nations tournament in Luanda in August, said it was always good to have experienced players.
”It’s difficult because now clubs withdrew them at the last minute when I thought I had them”, said Kubheka.
He said the positive response he was getting from his hastily assembled team was unbelievable. Thabiso Malatsi, the stylish midfielder from Kaizer Chiefs whose ball-juggling skills thrilled fans in Angola, said the morale was very high.
”Guys are looking forward to the game. Yes, as an individual I will miss the experienced players like Vilakazi and Manyathela. As you know that we are used to playing together but we have a belief in ourselves that whoever is here will do the job,” he said.
”We realise that it’s a must win game for us.” Debutants, goalkeeper Ryan Wuest, and Simphiwe Mbambo both said they felt honoured to represent their country. – Sapa