Nomads eye Be Forward redemption
With their image battered, hope for major silverware shattered, Mighty Wanderers believe the inaugural K7 million Be Forward tournament, starting today at Civo Stadium, could provide some redemption.
For this reason, Wanderers will go for glory in the two-day knockout tournament that also features Silver Strikers, Epac and Big Bullets with K2 million at stake for champions, K1 million for the runners-up, K500 000 going to the third-placed side and K250 000 for the fourth.
“If we can win this cup, even though I look at it as a charity cup, it will help the image of Wanderers. I already said it is too late for us to win the league championship. We want to use this season for development and if we can win something in between, it will be a blessing in disguise. There is also money at stake,” said Wanderers technical director Yasin Osman.
Silver are Standard Bank Knockout Trophy champions whereas Big Bullets won the Carlsberg Cup and Epac is the only other team without a silverware this season.
It is for this reason that Wanderers, lying on unfamiliar 10th on 20 points, smarting from a- heart breaking 1-0 loss to rivals Bullets at Kamuzu Stadium last Saturday, have everything to fight for when starting off against Epac today at noon.
“We have to respect every team as you are as good as your last game. We have a lot of new players and that is why we are struggling,” Osman added.
But Epac too are struggling in the league; hence, this tournament is very important to them, general secretary Roy Mdechi said yesterday.
“We are looking for a winning start so that we can qualify for the final and eventually grab the cup. Our encounters against Wanderers are always very tight. We lost 1-0 to them in the Super League first-round, but we now rate our chances highly,” Mdechi explained yesterday.
Then Bullets will square up against Silver later in the day.
The People’s Team senior player Fischer Kondowe has since ruled out a casual approach to the meeting with the Bankers.
“There is nothing like a friendly match. If we stumble in this match, then the pressure, which we are already subjected to, will increase. Every team facing us this season is a stumbling block. Every team is bent on beating us. The going is getting tough and we have to be tougher,” Kondowe said.
Japanese car dealers Be Forward, who are extending their operations to Malawi, will host the tournament whose travelling teams will receive transport, meals and accommodation subsidy while the Lilongwe-based teams will be subsidised on the meals, reads a statement from the organising committee comprising chairperson Dini Josaya Banda, general secretary Rashid Ntelela and treasurer Tiya Somba Banda.
