Flames hunt for tall players
Flames coaches Young Chimodzi and Jack Chamangwana will embark on a mission to scout for taller players whose absence the coaches believe cost the national team a berth at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
But the exercise seems long term as Chamangwana said they would recommend the scouted players to Super League clubs and monitor the footballers before considering them for Flames call-up.
The Flames return to action next March in the African Nations Championship (Chan).
After a post-mortem of the Afcon race, which had Malawi fail to qualify when drawing 0-0 in Ethiopia, Chamangwana felt some of the defeats during the campaign were avoidable. Chimodzi confirmed that, subject to funding, they want to start scouting for players and regional national team training.
“We are looking for well-built players. When we go to West Africa where they have big players, we cannot cope. I do not know whether it is a generation issue that we have small players. You can see that even kids playing street football are not big,” the former international defender explained.
He cited the 2-0, 3-0 defeats by Algeria and 2-0 away in Mali as being due to lack of physical presence, especially in defence whose tallest player Harry Nyirenda is estimated at 1.79 metres, yet he was up against some strikers 1.9 metres tall. Average height of footballers in the world is 1.8 metres.
However, the average height for Malawi’s last starting XI that drew 0-0 in Ethiopia last November is 1.73 metres. Tallest Flames player in the current squad is Esau Kanyenda at 1.83 metres with Joseph Kamwendo and left-back Francis Mulimbika deemed to be the shortest at around 1.69 metres.
Another defender Limbikani Mzava stands at 1.78 metres. French giants Monaco refused to sign him in 2012 because he was too short for a defender. The rest of Malawi regular defenders Mulimbika and John Lanjesi are also around 1.78 metres.
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu while promising to support the programmes of the coaches as they prepare for the Chan qualifiers and Cosafa Cup in March and May 2015, insisted that scouting for taller players is long term. “Even if they find a tall player now, there is no guarantee that they will be good enough for the national team. You also need a mixture,” said Nyamilandu who used to play in Flames defence of tall players such as Patrick Mabedi.
The hunt for tall players could be undermined by latest research findings indicating that some 47 percent of Malawian children have stunted growth. Estimated at 1.9 metres, retired Clement Kafwafwa is probably the tallest Malawian footballer this decade.
Augustine Banda Jnr, general manager of the High Performance Centre (HPC) at the College of Medicine Sports Complex, insisted that scouting for taller players could be a short-term solution for the Flames, citing proper nutrition as the way forward.
“The reality for our nation is that our players are getting smaller in height and build, something that should concern us since the research we are currently carrying out at the High Performance Centre indicate that the international average weight and height of footballers is 74kg and 180 centimetres respectively,” Banda explained.
“You cannot compare the current crop of players to their coaches [Jack, Young and Kinnah] and our players are smaller in stature. I keep mentioning that Long Term Athlete Development Plan because only through that can we develop ‘engineered’ athletes.”
