Mabedi calls 2 england based players
Flames coach Patrick ‘General’ Mabedi has named two England-based players in his final 32-member squad for the upcoming Four Nations Tournament which Malawi will host at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe from next Saturday.
The two are Jubril Okedina, who plays for third-tier League one outfit Cambridge United and Takondwa Maosa of regional league side Brentwood Town FC.
He has also called striker Henri Kumwenda of Butler University in the US.
Addressing a press conference yesterday at Mpira Village in Chiwembe Township, Blantyre, Mabedi said he had earmarked more players from Europe, “unfortunately they couldn’t be released by their clubs.”
“There were two to three players we wanted to invite, including [Scotland-based] Kieran Ngwenya and Shaquille Gwengwe. As for Kieran, we learnt that he has just recovered from an injury, but I assured him that he will be considered in the future,” said the Flames gaffer.
Responding to a question on how he spotted the players, Mabedi said: “I am a coach who does his research, I also follow outside football and I am resourceful.
“I have been hearing about these players for some time and I thought the upcoming tournament would be a proper platform to assess them because I cannot throw them in competitions such as World Cup and Afcon qualifiers.
“So, this tournament provides us an opportunity to see if they can match what we want.”
On 23-year-old Okedina, Mabedi said: “Since we sometimes have a problem with centre-backs, we thought it is important to take a look at him.
“He also has a good height and with good coaching in Europe, we thought maybe he can help us.”
According to statistics, the former Tottenham Hotspur player has made 10 appearances this season.
On Maosa, the coach said “[Similarly], since we are having problems with attacking midfielders, we thought we could also assess him and see if he is better than what we have.”
The former Flames skipper said the same applies to Kumwenda because the Flames struggle to score goals and he could be the solution.
According to stats on transfermarkt.com, Kumwenda has featured in 12 matches this season, scoring two goals. He already made his debut for the Flames in 2022.
Apart from the trio, Mabedi has named eight other foreign-based players, namely goalkeeper Brightone Munthali (Black Leopards, South Africa), defender Dennis Chembezi (Al-Qassim, Iraq), midfielders John ‘CJ’ Banda UD Songo, Mozambique), Robert Saizi (Zanaco, Zambia) and Lloyd Njaliwa (Costa do Sol, Mozambique); forwards Frank Gabadinho Mhango (Moroka Swallows, South Africa), Chawanangwa Kaonga (Zanaco, Zambia) and Chifundo Mphasi (Kabwe Warriors, Zambia).
In total, he has included 11-foreign-based players.
The squad also includes seven uncapped players, namely Okedina, Maosa, George Chikooka, Alex Kambirinya, Chrispin Mapemba, Wongani Lungu and Ephraim Kondowe.
With nine players, Bullets who swept all silverware on the domestic scene last season, have contributed the highest number of players.
