Flames head coach Kallisto Pasuwa has attributed the Malawi National Football Team’s 3-1 defeat to Angola in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier in Luanda on Tuesday night to a slow start and defensive approach.
The Zimbabwean tactician said the Flames’ matchday preparations were disrupted after the team arrived late at the Estadio 11 de Novembro due to traffic congestion, leaving them with limited warm-up time.
However, he admitted that Malawi started the match slowly and allowed Angola to dominate possession in their own half.
“We arrived late due to, I think, a problem of traffic. We couldn’t get in time here; hence, maybe our warm-up was cut off.
“But when the game started, we started very slowly. We gave the opposition too much respect. They had too much possession in our own half and we ended up conceding goals,” he said.
Pasuwa also acknowledged that Malawi sat too deep for long periods, particularly in the opening half.
“We sat for maybe 30 to 35 minutes, which was not okay,” he said. “We had one boy who was in front. He couldn’t do anything.”
Malawi went into the break trailing 2-1 after Angola scored twice before the Flames pulled one back from an own goal.
Pasuwa said his side’s failure to put pressure on their hosts worsened their problems.
“Most of the time we were defending. And on the defending part, there was no pressure on the ball. When they got to us, we needed to win the ball back, but we couldn’t,” he said.
The Flames tried to be more adventurous after the break, pushing more numbers forward, but conceded from a corner kick to effectively end their hopes of a comeback.
“In the second-half, we had to put numbers forward for us to attack, but unfortunately again we conceded a corner kick. The game was over from that scenario,” Pasuwa said.
The defeat leaves Malawi on third position with three points in Group B and more work to do in their bid to qualify for the 2027 Afcon, with Egypt and Angola, who tie on four points, occupying the first and second positions.
But Pasuwa insisted that the Flames have not given up on their qualification hopes.
He said: “We can’t surrender now. It is too early for us to do so. We’ll go and correct our mistakes.
“There are more games to come. We will try to push ourselves in order to match up these guys who are on top of the log,”
Football analyst George Chiusiwa said the defeat threatens Malawi’s qualification chances.
He described Malawi’s performance as “a terribly dull and undesirable football display”, arguing that it could dash the hopes of those who still believe in the current project.
Chiusiwa, who is Silver Strikers board member, also pointed to the contrasting technical quality of the two teams, particularly Angola’s head coach Senegal legend Aliou Cissé.
He said: “Perhaps, it is about time we started managing our expectations when playing against teams that are well drilled and are also properly oiled technically and tactically.
“To be frank, it is not easy to play against national teams that are adequately organised and strategically focused in their technical dealings of the fundamentals of the game.”
