Mtawali warns flames
Flames coach Ernest Mtawali has warned his charges against underrating Djibouti whom they meet this afternoon in a Group C Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup match in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
After beating Sudan’s Falcons of Jediane 2-1 in their opening match on Monday, the Flames engage the world’s least-ranked national team at Bahir Dar Stadium, about 555 kilometres from Addis Ababa from 3pm (Central African Time).
“I think Djibouti are going to be our toughest opponents in the group because the odds are against them and they have nothing to lose. They lost their first game [0-2 to South Sudan] and they will be out to salvage something,” said Mtawali.
The last time the Flames faced Djibouti was in 2008 during the 2010 joint World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifiers and Malawi won 11-1 on aggregate.
“I know the talk is that it will be a walkover just because the last time we played them, we massacred them, but, football is such an unpredictable sport and I have drummed into our players that if we are not careful, we could be in for a shock.”
He added: “I was just going through their [Djibouti] profile a couple of days ago and I noted that in the preliminaries of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, they lost by a narrow 1-2 margin to Swaziland and such a team has to be treated with caution. There are no easy games these days.”
Mtawali also said despite the win against Sudan, the Flames were repeatedly fragile at the back.
“The performance wasn’t that bad considering the team we were facing, but it could have been much better, especially when it comes to tactical discipline,” he said.
Stand-in captain Chiukepo Msowoya is the only player who was in the squad which faced Djibouti in 2008.
The Flames are second in the group with three points just like leaders South Sudan but are separated by goal difference as the South Sudanese beat Djibouti 2-0 in their opening match. n
