Cosafa says Flames carry region’s hopes

Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) says it is proud of Flames’ exploits at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Cosafa chief executive officer Sue Destombes said in an interview yesterday the Flames are carrying the Southern African’s hopes.

She said: “We are proud of them and we are rooting for them. They are the pride of the region at the moment.”

Destombes said as Cosafa, they were particularly impressed with Comoros and Flames’ performances against Ghana and Senegal respectively.

She said: “Comoros’  3-2 win over Ghana was groundbreaking and historic. It was absolutely fabulous and will go down in annuls as a big upset.

“And for Malawi to defy the odds and hold Senegal, who are the top-ranked team on the continent with world-class players, was also fantastic.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed that they sail through. We are counting on them.”

All the giants from Southern Africa, namely South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, Zambia’s Chipolopolo, Angola’s Neglas Palancas and Democratic Republic of Congo’s Leopards failed to qualify for the African safari.

In his reaction, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu yesterday said: “It’s incredible that Cosafa is now banking its hopes on Malawi when we have been perennial underdogs. What a turnaround.

“We are honoured to earn such respect in Cosafa and its gratifying to restore our lost glory within the region and beyond.

“This underscores that the transformation agenda that the Flames has undergone recently is paying dividends. The change of philosophy to fast and furious football was necessary to give the Flames a competitive edge.”

The FAM president said Malawi has every reason to celebrate the turnaround of performance “because it’s not easy to match Senegal pound-for-pound let alone win a match at Afcon”.

He added: “Hopefully we will qualify to the knock stage of the last 16 so that Cosafa can be represented. The wait is painful but worthwhile.”