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FAM justifies Tanzania friendly

FAM and Flames have justified the move to play another strength-testing match, barely three weeks, against the same team, Tanzania’s Taifa Stars this evening.

The Flames met Tanzania in Dar-es-Salaam in a preparation for the first leg of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations second preliminary round, raising questions as to why they could not play a different team.

Flames’ Chimango Kayira (R) in battle with Zimbabwean players in a recent friendly
Flames’ Chimango Kayira (R) in battle with Zimbabwean players in a recent friendly

But Football Association of Malawi (FAM) chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda said the only team that was readily available to host the Flames was Tanzania.

“In fact, we were lucky to find a team that accepted our proposal within a short period of time and the fact that we will be playing away is also an added advantage.

“The other thing that should be borne in mind is that this time around, we will be playing a full-strength Tanzania side. We had to accept the coaches’ proposal based on the reasons they gave, but we believe the positives [from this match] will outweight the negatives,” said Nyirenda.

Meanwhile, Flames assistant coach Jack Chamangwana has admitted fears of players getting injured in this evening’s build-up match ahead of the Nd’jamena showdown.

Already, the Flames will be without some key players such as inspirational midfielder Robert Ng’ambi and battle-hardened forward Esau Kanyenda due to injuries.

“There is that injury fear factor, but we have no choice. We need to play this game considering the weaknesses that were noted in the first leg in which we clearly lacked cohesion whereby you could see that there was no coordination, especially in midfield and we could hardly string three to four passes,” said Chamangwana.

“Every preparation has a risk, sometimes you lose players in a game or even during training session,” he said.

The Flames legend, said to be coherent, there will be need to try out different combinations; hence, the importance of today’s game which will kick off at 6pm local time at National Stadium in the Tanzanian capital.

Over and above that, Chamangwana said the approach for the Chad game will be different to the first leg as the Flames will be playing away.

The Flames won the first leg 2-0 against Chad whereas the Taifa Stars edged Zimbabwe’s Warriors 1-0 also at home.

Former Flames captain Peter Mponda said the importance of the friendly match cannot be overemphasised.

FAM president Walter Nyamilandu said the proposal for a friendly match against Tanzania was made by the coaching panel to enable them work on the weaknesses that were spotted in the first Chad game.

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