Chiukepo, Chimango in for Mozambique game

Forgotten Mozambique-based burly forward Chiukepo Msowoya and midfielder Chimango Kayira will be the only foreign-based players featuring in Sunday’s international friendly match against Mozambique’s Mambas that will be part of Malawi’s 50th Independence Anniversary Celebrations.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda confirmed that the two players arrived on Wednesday and have since joined the Flames in camp.

Nyirenda said the two have been released by their club Costa dol Sol because the Mozambican Premier Mocambola League will be on hold this weekend.

Asked if the development means other Mozambique-based players such as captain Moses Chavula and Foster Namwela are not part of his plans for the 2015 Afcon final preliminary round first-leg against Benin, coach Young Chimodzi said: “Not necessarily. We have called these players specifically to assess them based on their current performance at club level according to our research. It does not necessarily mean the others won’t be considered.”

But Chimodzi conceded that most of the players based in Mozambique have slumped in form.

Soccer analyst Charles Nyirenda believes the players’ slump in form has to do with the standard of the game in that country.

In the friendly game against Zimbabwe’s Warriors in March this year, goalkeeper Simplex Nthala and striker Zicco Mkanda performed poorly while in the games against Chad, Chavula and Namwela also struggled.

But reports from the former Portuguese colony indicate that both Chimango and Chiukepo are enjoying a rich vein of form.

Chiukepo, who was at the hub of the Flames qualification for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, has not played for the Flames for almost a year now.