National Football Coaches Association (NFCA) has backed the Kallisto Pasuwa-led Flames technical panel despite Malawi National Football Team’s poor performance at the ongoing 2025 Cosafa Cup in South Africa where the team was booted out without winning or scoring.
The poor showing is a step backwards after the Flames reached the semi-finals in the 2023 edition under Patrick Mabedi.
The Flames missed the 2024 edition after Football Association of Malawi withdrew from the competition following the death of Vice-President Saulos Chilima alongside eight others in a military plane crash at Nthungwa in Viphya Plantation, Nkhata Bay on June 10, 2024.
This time around, under Pasuwa, the Flames bowed out after losing to Lesotho and Angola by 1-0 margins.They also had a goalless draw against Namibia.
The Cosafa Cup results mean Malawi under Pasuwa have won four matches, lost five and drawn once in 10 games.
The results have drawn concerns from some football fans who feel the coach has transgressed instead of progressing.
But NFCA chairperson Aubrey Nankhuni in an interview said the coaches are on the right track.
He said: “I beg to differ. I think first, we need to understand the coach’s plans. Remember his contract will be judged after the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations [Afcon] qualification. I think that is his target.
“If you look at the squad that he took, you can see that he is trying to build a team that can last as far as 2027 Afcon. If that is his plan, then I think he is on the right track.”
Nankhuni said the technical panel now has to assess all the players and drop those that failed to tick.
He said: “All the players were given a chance at Cosafa Cup, except goalkeepers, may be. But for the infield players, two or three games are enough.
“The coaches should also be thinking of other players that were not given a chance such as Silver Strikers’ Festus Duwe and Mighty Wanderers’ Blessings Mwalilino.”
Posting on his Facebook page, football analyst George Chiusiwa said football fans’ patience is running out.
He said: “Perhaps we have to be a little patient? Will it be better any time soon? FAM may have good ideas for the Flames’ football project.
“But for how long should we keep waiting? Haven’t we persevered enough in the face of this shame called the Flames?
“Is this football project real or a farce or drama? For now, we just have to be praying for miracles and a magical turn of football events.”
Former Flames captain Esau Kanyenda also felt Pasuwa and his backroom staff need to be given space to continue their 2027 Afcon qualification mission.
He said: “Isn’t it too early for us to squeeze Flames coach Pasuwa and his assistant Peter Mponda’s necks, looking at the fact that the players drafted into Cosafa Cup squad are from top teams in Malawi?”
The Flames returned from South Africa yesterday and will be back in action in September when 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers resume with a home match against Liberia and away to Namibia.
