FAM says U-17 will be kept ‘busy’

The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has said the current Under-17 national team will not be ‘abandoned’ as was the case with last year’s squad.

This follows calls from some quarters that FAM should keep this year’s squad together by arranging camping sessions and international friendly matches.

A soccer analyst George Kaudza-Masina said the current team, which finished third at the just ended Cosafa Youth Championship, needs to be kept together so as to build a formidable side for the future.

“Look, this is a team that did not have a chance to play an international friendly unlike their South African and Zambian counterparts and save for three players, the rest were new.

“To add on to that, quite a number of players were flushed out after it was established that they were over-aged and this just shows that if the team will not be abandoned as was the case last year, then we have a team for the future,” he said.

But FAM president Walter Nyamilandu played down the fears, saying: “The team has shown that it has tremendous potential to turn around the fortunes of the Flames; hence, the need to invest in it so that we can yield the desired results as a nation.

“Funds prevailing, our plans are to participate in the CAF Africa Youth Championship as a nursery for the Flames so that the players should get international experience and learn to have a winning mentality at an early age. We are taking a holistic approach to the rebuilding of the national team because there is no short cut to success.”

He added that the success of the Under-17 team proves that Fifa 15 Youth League which was set up as a pilot project in the country three years ago, is paying dividends.

After last year’s Under-17 team finished third at the same tournament, FAM pledged to keep the team together but did not live up to its word.