Newly-appointed Flames coach Kallisto Pasuwa says he anticipates a tough match against Comoros in the delayed 2024 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship play offs.
A draw held in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday pitted the Flames against the Islanders in the first-round and the team that excels will face the winner between Egypt and South Africa.
In his reaction to the draw, Pasuwa said playing Comoros will be tricky considering that the top-flight TNM Super League is off-season while the opponent’s is full throttle.
He said: “Considering our season is off with most teams in their pre-season, it’s going to be tricky through workable dealings with players coming from different teams where their approach differs in terms of periodisation.
“We just have to work with the time we have and juggle between conditioning and tactical approach for the game.”
The last time the two sides met at 2023 Csoafa Cup, Malawi triumphed 2-0 under immediate-past coach Patrick Mabedi.
However, in that match Comoros featured mostly a developmental side.
Pasuwa noted that the islanders have improved and will be a tough side to beat.
He said: “Comoros are now a force to reckon with in African football.
“They now have tactically and technically sound players; hence, the need for us to prepare in well.”
Malawi starts away to Comoros and the Zimbabwean tactician warned of humid conditions in thr island nation.
“Also, environmental stressors are another factor we have to deal with when playing in Comoros, considering the humid conditions,” said Pasuwa.
The match against Comoros will be the first assignment for Pasuwa after being offered a two-year contract.
The Chan play offs will be a litmus test for Pasuwa as a permanent coach after he impressed Football Association of Malawi as caretaker coach drawing against Burundi and a surprise victory over Burkina Faso in the last two 2026 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The coach admitted that pressure will be there to replicate Afcon qualifiers performance.
“Football is always a game of pressure. We can’t run away from that. All we need to do is make sure we get the desired result,” he said.
Seven teams, Malawi, Algeria, Comoros, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia and South Africa, have been re-engaged after initially excusing themselves from Chan; hence, the play offs after other teams already qualified for the finals to be held in Kenya and Uganda.
The first round first legs will be played between February 28 and March 2 while the return legs will be between March 7 and 9.
The second round first legs iare set for between May 2 and4 while the return legs will be between May 9 and 11.
Football analyst George Chiusiwa, however, noted that FAM should have stuck to its decision not to participate as there is not enough time to prepare for the qualifiers.
He said: “Malawi’s participation in the Chan competition is a welcome move, essentially, considering the challenges we have had with respect to adequately exposing locally-based players to international football due to the country’s lack of participation in continental competitions at various tiers of CAF football contests.
“This is an important opportunity for the Flames to rectify problems in player development, monitoring, transition and continuity, which are integral aspects in elevating the quality of national team players.
“However, we do not have to participate for the sake of it as the Chan battles are not principally for developing young players, but are actual competitive tussles aimed at attaining football honours in Africa.”
“As such, we needed to prepare thoroughly. It is apparently clear that FAM has just made the decision to enter the competition for the sake of ticking the boxes in the association’s calendar that the Flames took part in the Chan.
In the last edition, Malawi failed to make it to the tournament final after being booted out by Mozambique in the second-round on away goal rule after drawing both matches.
