Malawi U-20ready for Zimbabwe

 The Four Nations tournament kicks off this afternoon with Malawi Under-20 taking on Zimbabwe at Silver Stadium in Lilongwe.

In an interview yesterday, Malawi Under-20 coach Bob Mpinganjira said they are ready for the tournament.

He said: “Preparations are going on well, all the players are fit and looking sharp.

“We know Zimbabwe have assembled a good side, but we are ready for the game.”

Mpinganjira also thanked Football Association of Malawi (FAM) for considering the junior teams to take part in the tournament.

Young Warriors coach Simon Marange was quoted by one of Zimbabwe’s daily newspapers, The

 Chronicle, as having said that the tournament will provide valuable international exposure for his charges.

Zimbabwe have since axed two players, namely Dynamos’ Elton Chikoma and Herentals’ Leon Daka over what the Zimbabwe Football Association termed as “breach of team protocol”.

Meanwhile, FAM first vice-president Madalitso Kuyera, who is the tournament’s organising committee chairperson, has said they are ready to deliver a successful tournament.

He said: “As a country, we are ready to host the two tournaments with the Under-20 starting tomorrow [Wednesday] at Silver Stadium and seniors at the Bingu National Stadium from Saturday.

“This is a great opportunity for Malawi to showcase our expertise in match organisation, rich culture and tourism to the world.

“FAM has been hosting a lot of national and international games which have been successful and it is not going to be any different this time around. I can assure the people of Malawi that a lot is going on behind the scenes to stage a world-class tournament.

“You will note that some of the matches will be played in the evening, as such, we have tightened security to ensure that people’s lives and property are secured. We assure fans that their safety is our number one priority and they should come in large numbers to support their team.”

Meanwhile, participating teams are still trickling in for the tournament and the Zimbabwe Under-20 team were the first to arrive on Sunday.

FAM competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka said Zimbabwe senior team’s local players arrived on Monday while their foreign-based players are expected to jet in today.

Zambia’s Chipolopolo were also expected to arrive yesterday, he said.

“As for Kenya, both teams will jet in on Thursday [tomorrow],” said Zakazaka.

Following Zambia Under-20’s withdrawal from the competition, there is a new format.

Zakazaka said the three teams will now play in a round robin with Malawi taking on Zimbabwe while Kenya and Zimbabwe clash on Friday before Malawi take on Kenya in the last fixture on Sunday.

“The Under-20 matches have also been moved from Bingu National Stadium to Silver Stadium.

The schedule for the senior national teams remain as earlier announced with all the four teams available for the competition,” he said.

Malawi will take on Kenya in the first match while Zambia and Zimbabwe clash in the second match. The winners will face off on Tuesday while the losers will fight for third place on the same day