Coach Patrick Mabedi’s U-20 technical panel embarks on regional talent identification exercise
The Under-20 men’s national team technical panel — led by head coach, Patrick Mabedi — is on regional talent identification exercise to scout players for the team in preparation for the 2021 COSAFA Championship.
The exercise started this Saturday and Sunday for the Central and Northern Regions respectively as well as on August 7-8 for where it is expected to identify 65 players to be gathered together for a national camp between August 16-25.
The panel is expected conduct the trials with 355 players who were scouted by the National Youth Football Association (NYFA) and the Malawi Schools Sports Association (Massa) during district clusters talent identification exercise held on July 17-18.
“We want to give a chance to all players across the country,” Mabedi told Fam.mw. “That’s why we started with district clusters where Massa and NYFA helped us identify best players from the districts.
“The boys are now expected to showcase their talent at regional level after which a national camp will follow for those who will be selected.”
Mabedi said they are looking for players born not earlier than 1st January 2003 so that they are eligible for CAF Under 20 qualifiers next year.
“We want them to be together for some time before the CAF qualifiers and not just for months as has been the case in the past.
“The longer they stay together, the stronger and competitive they will become. We are looking for younger boys that will help Malawi football in the longer term,” he said.
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It’s a good initiative but this should not be done when there is a tournament to be played. This should be a continuous process by promoting grassroots football in all districts.