Flames switch their attention to Tunisia

Flames coach Patrick Mabedi says the Flames have to put behind Friday’s historic victory over Liberia in 2026 Fifa World Cup Qualifiers and concentrate on their second assignment against Tunisia’s Eagles of Carthage on Tuesday at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.

The Flames stunned Liberia 1-0, thanks to a 78th minute thunderbolt from Zambia-based Kabwe Warriors forward Chifundo Mphasi.

But Mabedi, who following the victory became the first Flames coach to win in West Africa, warned against complacency in the Tuesday match.

The tactician said the victory in West Africa is water under the bridge as the Flames now have a mountain to climb when they face a tough opponent Tunisia.

He said: “After the celebrations, we now have to get back to business. We need to focus on the Tunisia match.

“It’s going to be another tough match as Tunisia are well known as a giant in African football.

“We can’t afford to be complacent just because we won away against Liberia. That will be a big mistake.”

The Flames are expected to arrive today after spending a night in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia yesterday.

Mabedi said the hectic itinerary leaves them with no time to waste.

He said: “We don’t have time. We are travelling and it’s just recovery. We have to be ready by Tuesday,” said Mabedi before the team left Monrovia in Liberia yesterday.

Their opponents, the Eagles of Carthage, were also expected to jet in yesterday after routing Sao Tome & Principe 4-0 on Friday at Hamadi Al-Aqrabi Brads Stadium in Tunis.

Yassine Mariah, Youssef Al-Masakani, Hamza Rafi and Faras bin Al-Arabi were on target for the hosts.

Tunisia have appeared in the Fifa World Cup finals on six occasions, including the last edition in Qatar.

Their first finals was in 1978 where they finished ninth.

Between 1998 and 2006, they qualified for three straight World Cup finals and returned to the finals in 2018.

Mabedi, however, said if the players stick to his game plan, Malawi can cause an upset.

He said: “We take each game seriously and if we work the way we did in Liberia, we should be okay.”

His captain John CJ Banda said playing at home will give the team impetus to do well.

He said: “We will be playing at home in front of our supporters and that should give us the morale we need.”

Meanwhile, Tunisia Football Federation in a statement said the team left for Malawi on a Tunisian Airlines chartered plane without injured Mohamed Ali bin Ramadan and Hamza Rafi, who was excused to be with his wife who had a baby on Friday evening.

The Eagles of Carthage are expected to train at Silver Stadium today and later at the match venue the Bingu Nat ional Stadium.

Tunisia lead Group H despite tying at three points apiece with Malawi and Equatorial Guinea who defeated N a m i b i a 1 – 0 o n Wednesday.

Liberia, Sao Tome & Principe and Namibia are yet to collect points in the campaign.