Africa-Press – Mauritius. The irony of Malawi’s sumptuous displays at the Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup is that it is a former Kaizer Chiefs’ old school defender, Patrick ‘General’ Mabedi, fashioning the Flames’ brand of attacking football.
The Malawi interim coach hasn’t sacrificed his defensive ethos that ‘a defender must defend first’ rather he has found a way. The General without an army has found middle ground, fusing Tiki-taka, which has sent Durban into a characteristic merry-making mood, with steely defensive work.
Gents, if this is an audition for a permanent seat at Mpira House, then Mabedi is the only contender. Of course, when it eventually comes to decision time, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) mustn’t throw caution to the wind and go with social media flow.
Sobriety tells us that the Cosafa Cup is some sort of team B thing. It is developmental hence a risky policy reading too much into its results, especially if your overall objective is competing with big boys in Afcon and World Cup qualifiers.
Afterall, caretaker coaches, like your everyday Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, are masters in flattery and deception. They deliver when merely holding fort only to drop the ball when handed the real deal.
Whatever the case, FAM has a Catch-22 here. Beyond the Cosafa Cup, it is difficult to ignore the bed of potential Mabedi has mounted for the Flames while in temporary charge of a relatively new squad.
Goalkeeper Brighton Munthali seems to have come of age with sharp anticipation of danger. His positioning has improved. He can do better though organising the backline.
He is also quiet for a keeper but he is calmer these days. Stanley Sanudi, Nickson Mwase, Chembezi Denis and Alick Lungu are solid at the back. They move as a unit and pass to Llyod Aaron.
The holding midfielder bursts with a forward foray. Chimwemwe Idana dances then, with the outside of his boot, slides the ball wide to either Lanjesi Nkhoma or Chawanangwa Kaonga.
Then click, click, bang! All this happens in a flash. A choreography least expected from a tactical board of Mabedi; a graduate of 19th century school of rigid defending — physical and bone-crunching tackles.
Mabedi and his raw charges are set to strut their romantic football stuff again on 14 July when they return to King Zwelithi Stadium for a semifinal showdown with Lesotho. Both teams are bidding for their first Cosafa Cup final appearance in some two decades.
STINGY MALAWI DEFENCE
Head-to-head favours the Flames after winning 12 out of 21 meetings with Lesotho compared to four for the Crocodiles with the rest being draws. Malawi go into the contest while riding on a wave of a five-game unbeaten run across all competitions, including three consecutive clean sheets at the Cosafa Cup.
The Flames are thriving in a 3-5-2 formation that has seen goals coming from unpredictable sources. Nonetheless, Christopher Kumwembe remains the attacking focal point whereas Idana is the creative fulcrum of the Flames.
Malawi’s defence is perhaps the stingiest at the tournament, thereby feeding opposing teams’ strikers on a diet of starvation. Central to this is Munthali, who has kept three straight clean sheets and four overall in the last five outings.
Malawi last had a bite of the Cosafa Cup semifinal cake in 2003 when Mabedi was in and out of the Flames squad. On the other hand, Lesotho are smarting from a loss in group C to Angola in a dead- rubber.
Going into the semifinals, Lesotho’s Leslie Nothi’s men should be encouraged that they have not lost in the last four consecutive encounters against the Flames.
Lesotho and Malawi fancy their chances of booking a place in the final to date the winner of the South Africa versus Zambia semifinal game. Neither team has ever won the title for the 12-member competition which started off with three groups of four teams each.
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