Malawi National Team Head Coach, Patrick Mabedi said Kenya is a good test for the team as they prepare for the 2025 African Cup of Nations and 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
According to the draw conducted on Wednesday by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM), Malawi will face Kenya in the semi-finals of the four-Nation tournament while Zambia and Zimbabwe will lock horns in another semi-final game.
Reacting to the draw, the former Kaizer Chiefs defender said facing a team that has played football for the last two years will be a good test for the team.
“We are playing a team which is more hungry because they haven’t played for quite some time but at the same time it will be a good test for us because we have certain players in certain positions who are out for example, Alick Lungu and Tatenda M’balaka who have undergone surgeries.
“We will [use these matches] to try and see if we can replace them because we don’t know when they are going to be back with us,” said Mabedi.
Both Kenya and Zimbabwe were banned from world football by Fifa because of governmental interference in the running of the game but they are now ready to return to International games as FIFA lifted their sanctions.
Opportunity to test new players
Patrick Mabedi has hinted that he will use the games to try and get combinations before playing competitive games in the AFCON and World Cup Qualifiers (WCQ).
He said the final Squad that he intends to release on Friday this week, will include Malawian based in Europe
“We have to give a chance to certain players, they will be coming from Europe and others locally. I think this is a good opportunity for us to see combinations , I need to thank the organizers for making this [four-Nation tournament] happen.
“It will give us a platform because in real matches like AFCON and World Cup Qualifiers we will not have a chance to use these players. I need to give compliments to the organizers.
“By Friday we should know [the final squad]. We are delaying because there are certain players from Europe who are not sure with the commitments for their Clubs.
“We want to make sure that we know who is coming and once we get the full information, we will give the Nation the full squad,” Flames Coach, Patrick Mabedi tells FAM Media.
The Flames will face Kenya while Zambia will play Zimbabwe on day one of the Four Nations Cup on Saturday March 23, at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
The winners of the two matches will play in the final while the losers will be involved in a third place play-off on Tuesday March 26 at the same venue.
The pairing is the same for the Under 20’s whose semifinals will be played on Thursday March 21 with final and third place playoffs scheduled for Sunday March 24 at BNS.
