Flames date Botswana’s Zebras in a friendly

Flames coach Tom Saintfiet will have a chance to watch other foreign-based players as FAM has secured an international friendly match against Botswana’s Zebras on September 3 in Gaborone.

The strength-testing match will take place just four days before the swim-or-sink 2014 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria’s Super Eagles in Calabar.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu said the match will help Saintfiet to have a glimpse at other foreign-based players such as defender Foster Namwela and midfielder Robert Ng’ambi who he has not watched.

“It will also help assess the players ahead of the Nigeria game and also apply the tactics he wants to use in the decisive World Cup qualifier,” said Nyamilandu.

He said the Zebras will also use the match to prepare for their World Cup qualifier against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.

“So, we are likely to get a good test because both teams will have full-strength squads,” said Nyamilandu.

The FAM president also said the association’s chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda is finalising the logistics with the Botswana FA.

The Flames also played Botswana in a friendly match ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Namibia in February this year. The Zebras won the match 1-0, but Malawi went on to beat the Brave Warriors of Namibia by the same margin.