Goalkeeping woes: Malawi coach calls for special training for youthful Munthali

Malawi national football team coach Ernest Mtawali has expressed dissatisfaction with goalkeeping since taking over the job August last year.

Mtawali disclosed that he was still being bothered by awful goalkeeping by Malawi goalkeepers both foreign based and local based.

The Malawi coach said he had no clue to come up with a formula to solve the goalkeeping woes for the Malawi national football team which has been blamed on the team’s pathetic performance.

In an exclusive interview, Mtawali bared it all that the team’s pathetic performance at East and Central Africa Senior Challenge cup (Cecafa) held in Ethiopia last was largely contributed by goalkeeping disasters.

He singled the 2-0 quarterfinal loss to eventual champions Uganda to unsteady goalkeeping of Mozambique based Simplex Nthala.

“I am disappointed in our goalkeepers. I don’t know what kind of formula we can do to improve the department. I just heard about how unsteady Simplex Nthala is but I proved it at Cecafa. We could have done much better if it was not for goalkeeping,” Mtawali said.

Hinting on dropping of the former MightyWanderers custodian, he s suggested for Football Association of Malawi to invest in youthful goalkeeper FISD Wizzards goalkeeper Bright Munthali.

“What we need to do now is to turn to Bright Munthali by offering him special goalkeeping training to induce a spirit of confidence in him,” he said.

“This boy has got a future all we need is just to motivate him and entrust him with the responsibility. He can do it better than other goalkeepers who have been given a chance and lack consistency.”

Former Wanderers team manager Tom Milanzi concurred with Mtawali that goalkeeping has been a problem in Malawi.

“What Mtawali has said is true. The issue of goalkeeping has been caused by lack of proper and well qualified goalkeeper trainers in Malawi,” Milanzi said.

Under Mtawali Wanderers goalkeeper Richard Chipuwa, Moyale Barracks’ Juma chikwenga who displaced team mate McDonald Harawa, Simplex and Bright Munthali have been used with nobody impressive to become first choice goalkeeper.

Munthali has been called in the squad as a testimony of Mtawali’s policy on relying new blood.