‘Flames must learn from Scorchers’: Experts explain secret behind women’s team historic success
Football experts have credited the Scorchers’ extraordinary rise on the continental stage to increased investment, a deliberate player-export strategy and sheer determination – as pundits openly question why Malawi’s men’s team, the Flames, cannot replicate the same success.
Former Flames star Peterkins Kaira and seasoned football administrator Christopher Njeula both say the men’s national side has plenty to learn from the Scorchers’ remarkable campaign at this year’s WAFCON tournament.
According to Njeula, a significant boost in investment into women’s football, combined with a deliberate strategy of exporting talented players to stronger overseas leagues, sits at the heart of the Scorchers’ recent success – a run that has seen the team qualify for WAFCON for the very first time and, remarkably, secure Malawi’s first-ever qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
He argues that regular international friendly matches, paired with that same deliberate player-export approach, could hold the key to reversing the Flames’ own fortunes on the pitch going forward.
Meanwhile, former Flames star Peterkins Kaira pointed to something less tangible but equally decisive: sheer dedication.
Kaira said the players’ extraordinary level of commitment during competitive fixtures has been another crucial factor driving the Scorchers’ rise.
Kaira went further, suggesting that if the Flames could simply match the same level of commitment and determination shown by their female counterparts, qualification for the next Africa Cup of Nations finals could become a genuinely realistic ambition rather than a distant hope.
The contrast between the two teams’ recent trajectories could scarcely be starker.
In just four short years, the Scorchers have won the COSAFA Women’s Championship, secured their first-ever WAFCON qualification, and now made history by booking a place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup – an astonishing rise for a team that arrived at this year’s tournament as the lowest-ranked of all 16 qualifiers.
The Flames, by comparison, failed even to qualify for the previous edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, and have never once managed to win the COSAFA tournament themselves – a sobering statistic that has left many Malawian football fans wondering whether it is now the men’s game, rather than the women’s, that has some catching up to do.