Malawi thought it would be easy—Zimbabwe captain
Zimbabwe national soccer team captain Willard Katsande has said the Flames thought they would have an easy game due to the problems that rocked the Warriors’ camp ahead of their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) clash on Saturday.
The Warriors defied the odds to beat the Flames 2-1 at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre after training just for a day and travelling by road from Harare a day before the match.
Speaking soon after the match at Kamuzu Stadium, the Warriors skipper said: “I think Malawi probably thought they would have it easy after learning about the problems we had.
“But we had to put aside our problems and shift focus towards the match. We are professionals and we felt we had to put national interests first. It wasn’t easy playing under such difficult circumstances, but we gave our all and I am happy that we won.”
Zimbabwe coach CallistoPasuwa told BBC Sport after the match: “We put our problems aside and we got a win. We need to bring Zimbabwean people together to help improve our football.”
The squad had initially refused to travel, citing concerns that they would not receive their money from the cash-strapped Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa).
Walter Magaya, the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader, stepped in to cover the $42 000 needed to cover the trip to Malawi.
Cuthbert Malajila put the Warriors ahead in the 21st minute, but John ‘CJ’ Banda Flames levelled the scores barely a minute after a move of utter beauty that involved ZiccoMkanda and Joseph Kamwendo.
And just when the home fans were urging their team to engage an extra gear and grab the winner, KhamaBilliati scored Zimbabwe’s second goal.
Billiati, who has Malawian roots, got the ball in his own half and his pace swept him past a defender and in a blink of an eye, released a curler that flew past helpless Malawi goaltender McDonald Harawa.
The Flames are joint bottom of Group L alongside Guinea who suffered a 1-2 shocking defeat at the hands of Swaziland’s Sihlangu.
