I am not worried, says coach Saintfiet
Flames caretaker coach Tom Saintfiet has said despite the recent sterile performance at the Cosafa Cup, he is not in a cold sweat in the countdown to the 2014 World Cup Group F decisive qualifier against Nigeria.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Saintfiet said: “I am not nervous about it. I know what I have to do and the association knows what needs to be done.
“I am very optimistic that the team will be ready for Nigeria.”
The Belgian tactician insisted that the Cosafa tournament cannot be used as a benchmark because the Flames did not have a full-strength squad.
“There are 10 players who play in South Africa and Mozambique, so we’ll screen them and see how they play,” he said.
Saintfiet also said he is getting to know about local players as he is watching games.
“I have seen two matches and we are evaluating on daily basis and hopefully we can play [a friendly match] on August 14,” he said.
Saintfiet claimed that the soccer fraternity reacted very well following Malawi’s dismal performance in Zambia.
“Soccer fans reacted very well, its only a few journalists who write propaganda [when] they didn’t see [watch] the games.
“There are people who don’t love Malawi and they will talk a lot on the Internet and in the newspapers,” he said.
Since he took over the mantle, the Flames lost both games to Zimbabwe 3-1 [in post-match penalties] and Angola 3-2 in Zambia where they failed to make it into the losers’ plate phase.
Disappointed by the results, the coach said he would ring some changes to the team. This was despite his declaration earlier on that the Flames have a good side capable of beating Nigeria.
