Malawi U-20 will be hot contenders for Cosafa championship -Coach
The Malawi under 20 national soccer team coach John Kaputa says his charges are looking forward to the 2011 Metropolitan Cosafa youth championship with confidence because they are not going to Botswana this time to participate but fight for honours.
The junior Flames leave the country on friday by road using the new Higger luxury bus that government gave to the Flames last month. The team will spend a night in Zimbabwe and will arrive in Botswana on Saturday.
Kaputa says he is satisfied with the players who were in camp and that these are the players that will make the country proud.
“Its not about participation,we are going there to fight for the best.” he said after his team’s friendly match with Bullets FC on Wednesday which was organised as part of the team’s preparations.
“The friendly has helped us a lot in assessing the players and trying out combinations and we will do well in Botswana,” he said.
The game ended 1 – 1 and the junior flames gave a good account of themselves and Bullets struggled to break them. Brown Mizeyi scored for the under 20 while Bullets pulled level from the spot.
Malawi is in group B alongside Seychelles and Lesotho. Their first assignment is a date against Seychelles on 2 December and Kaputa says winning the first game will be crucial if they are to advance to the knockout stages.
“We have told the boys that the first game is very important and we have to win at all costs to keep our chances of qualifying to the next stage nicely on the boil” he told Nyasa Times.
The following is the list of players that have made it for the Botswana trip:
Goalkeepers
Carlington Misomali
Cuthbert Onani Seengwa
Defenders
Stanley Sanudi
Vivian Damalekani
Bongani Kaipa
Peter Mselema
Kondwani Lufeyo
Patience Kalumo
Midfielders
Yamikani Chester
Jimmy Chikulekule
Andrew Banda
Willie Saenda
Dalitso Sailesi
Mike Kaziputa
Martin Masoatheka
Strikers
Isaac Maluwa
Brown Mizeyi
Maxwell Mwanyongo
Tony Chitsulo
Victor Mpinganjira