Malawi stand-in coach says ‘forget 2017 AFCON qualification, make realistic plans’

Malawi care taker Coach Gerald Phiri has told Football Association of Malawi (FAM) and the entire nation to switch their target from next African Cup of Nations (AFCON) and WorldCup finals to later editions.

Gerald Phiri: Let us be realisitic

Phiri, who is also Head Coach for Under 20 Junior Flames,  has since pleaded with football lovers to rather concentrate on rebuilding the team.

The coach was commenting on steps Malawi can take inorder to build a strong squad that can frequently qualify to major football tournaments.

He said it is disappointing that as the nation, we have failed to build a strong national team after so many years.

Realistically, Malawi has indeed struggled since 2010 because the transition after its last appearance at the Afcon finals-which was the second in history-was not properly handled.

According to Phiri, a lot of time has already been wasted but Fam and the entire nation need to be patient enough if we are to build a strong team.

“We need to be patient inorder to build a strong team for the future. For instance we have 2019 Afcon finals ahead of us but this should not be our target. Our prime target now should not be Afcon and World Cup qualification but rather focus on building a team as our team is
currently at its lowest,” said Phiri.

He, therefore, openly revealed that Malawians should forget qualifying to Afcon in 2019 advised Malawi FA to come up with a proper plan to enable Flames qualify for 2021 Afcon finals.

“Let us make realistic plans and FAM should be able to update Malawians on the plans. We have been failing because we are short sighted and go for immediate results that way nothing can workout. There is no way you can build a team in two years, we atleast need to give ourselves a target of three or four years,” said Phiri.

“This is the right time to start nurturing new talent and government with assistance from stakeholders need to come up with a good funding to assist in the building process,” he added.

Phiri said as Malawians, we have collectively contributed to the downfall of Flames and need to accept and share the blame without pointing out fingers.

He blamed the media for always criticizing coaches whom he said their wishes and demands are not met by the FA when handed the responsibility of coaching the team.

Meanwhile, Phiri has assembled a 33 member youthful and uncapped squad currently in camp ahead of an international friendly against a Chinese team.

The match will be played on the 28th January 2017 at the newly built State-of-The-Art Stadium in Lilongwe.

The match is part of celebrating the official opening of the magnificant stadium which was built with funding from the Chinese Government.

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kabinikako
7 years ago

Mbuzi izi zingopasana nchito paubwenzi eti…..one can prepare MSCE exams in Six months and pass while the course is for two years…..kulephera ntchito ndikumeneku mukudikiranso chani kumuchosa uyu

Thaku Libaya
Thaku Libaya
7 years ago

Iwe Chisoni you are indeed an Idiot fool.

Khwinda
Khwinda
7 years ago

Maganixo anzeru amenewa coach just look @ Uganda avutika tym yaitali koma pano team yawo ili bho,, tisaope kutibulidwa bola tikuziwa chomwe tikupanga. Kaya Ku under 17,20,23 tumizani zaka zoenera kukakhala kumeneko olo ikaumbuzidwe palibe kanthu bola tiphunzire basi. Ku SA kuli more than 50million pple koma sikuti onsewo ndi maplayer ampira nde inu amene mukunena kuti sizovuta kusankha squad out of Malawian population mukutanthauza chani?

Symon Maguru
Symon Maguru
7 years ago

Whatever Gerald Phiri is saying is true. we can’t expect to qualify for AFCON without having a vivid contingency plan to pave a way for a successful national team,and it’s absolutely true that football managers, reporters and citizens are to blame for pointing fingers at coaches. for those blaming Gerald Phiri, remember! seven consecutive years ago, Malawi qualified for AFCON, the squad that participated came all the way from Under 23 up to the top. He isn’t wrong, we got to prepare for at least 4 to 5 years and come up with a strong national team. Let’s hope for… Read more »

john phiri
john phiri
7 years ago

Hahaha, 2019 is two years from today. What is Gerald saying here? You mean next two year is close enough to assemble 11 players from 16 million Malawians? Guy be serious. Its true that FAM and government have failed because they are not professional enough but a person like yourself bwana should know better. Your u20 team is supposed to feature at Afcon 2019 because by then most of them will be mature enough. You deserve a sack man koma poti anakulemba ntchito wonse ndi mbuzi ngati iwe wemwe. That’s rubbish thinking. Ndakhumudwa nanu man.

Chingambwe
Chingambwe
7 years ago

Iyi ndi mbuzi ya munthu. Simple!

chisoni wa chisoni
chisoni wa chisoni
7 years ago

Foolish.if you cannot prepare now when will prepare. That is retrogressive thinking. You should be paid for nothing. Anyone buying your story is an idiot. You qualify by participating in many international competitions and not build a team while sitting. How will assess performance and improvement. Mediocre thinking . leave if you cannot stand the heat.

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