Newly-appointed Flames coach Kallisto Pasuwa’s squad for the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (Chan) play-offs against Comoros has drawn mixed reactions from pundits.
The Zimbabwean tactician has called 27 players into camp for the two-legged play-offs set for Bingu National Stadium on March 2 and 8, with the majority of regulars left in the cold.
Some notable exclusions from the squad are TNM Super League champions Silver Strikers attacking midfielder Chimwemwe Idana, Mighty Wanderers defender Stanley Sanudi who is Flames’ most capped local player and his teammate and 2024 league season top goalscorer Isaac Kaliati.
Also missing from the squad are the top-eight scorers in the 2024 season such as George Chaomba, Isaac Msiska (Creck), Zeliat Nkhoma (Kamuzu Barracks), Blessings Mwalilino (Karonga United), Ramahdan Ntafu (Chitipa United) and Promise Kamwendo (Wanderers).
Former Wanderers goalkeeper William Thole and former Bullets defender Gomezgani Chirwa, who are outside the country on club-hunting mission, have also be left out.
Instead, Pasuwa has opted for novices such as Amos Sande, Joseph MacDonald (Ekhaya), Khumbo Banda (Premier Bet Dedza Dynamos), Chris Lwemba (Creck), Moses Banda (Civo), Charles Nkhoma (Moyale), Auspicious Kazongola (Mafco), Wallace Adam (Wanderers) and Allen Chihana (Karonga).
The tactician has blended the up and coming players with usual campaigners, including goalkeepers Richard Chimbamba (Bullets) and George Chikooka, defenders McDonald Lameck, Maxwell Paipi, Nixon Mwase (Silver) Timothy Silwimba (Wanderers) and Alick Lungu (Bullets) who were part of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations campaign.
Midfielders Yankho Singo, Lloyd Aaron, Wongani Lungu, Chikumbutso Salima (Bullets), Zebron Kalima, (Silver) Gaddie Chirwa, Wisdom Mpinganjira (Wanderers) have also retained their places.
Ephraim Kondowe (Bullets), Olson Kanjira (KB) and Emmanuel Saviel (Ekhaya) are back in the squad after a brief absence.
Football analyst George Chiusiwa in an interview suggested that Pasuwa is trying to build his own team.
He said: “The called up players may not necessarily be the best in the league. The change in the face of the squad may mean that Pasuwa wants to show that he is different and unique in his handling of the national team with his own player management philosophy.
“It should also be appreciated that Pasuwa does not hesitate to give inexperienced and young players the chance to prove their mettle. While this coach has a winning mentality, he also believes in the gradual development of young and unestablished players.”
Chiusiwa said Pasuwa’s approach is good as he is preparing for the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Namibia’s Brave Warriors and Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles set for next month.
He said: “The idea of exposing deserving unestablished players is good to create a larger pool of quality players for selection during tougher assignments like the Fifa World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaigns as the Flames hinge on domestic players.
“One may also see that the coach is being cautious about managing the team in light of its other engagements in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against the Namibia and Tunisia.
“The fact that Malawi is facing a seemingly weak Comoros team, assembled domestically, twice in the Chan campaign may also be an opportunity for Pasuwa to closely look at new players that may feature or would be useful at the bigger international football platforms.”
Chiusiwa said the players left out may not necessarily be ‘bad’ but are simply not in the coach’s plans for now.
But another analyst David Kanyenda, who is Wanderers board member but was speaking on his own capacity, faulted Pasuwa, saying he is setting himself up for failure by ignoring outstanding TNM Super League players.
He said: “None of the strikers, who were on the top eight scorers list with at least 10 goals have made the cut in Pasuwa’s squad.
“The strikers he has selected didn’t even make it into double figures. If they aren’t outstanding locally, should we really expect them to bang goals at international level? At this rate, Pasuwa will spectacularly fail.”
Kanyenda said Pasuwa should have trusted the topflight league statistics when selecting the players for the Chan matches.
“I thought he has a data analyst? What more valuable statistics are used to gauge a striker’s performance than the number of goals?
“For Chan, Pasuwa can’t afford to completely overlook all the top goal scorers in the elite league and select forwards with inferior goal stats His selection criteria is dubious and he must be called out,” he said.
Pasuwa, who replaced fired Patrick Mabedi in November 2024 before being appointed on permanent basis for a two-year contract two weeks ago, was not available for comment.
But Football Association of Malawi (FAM) competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka said the coach should not justify his choice of players.
He said: “The players he picks for the squad are his prerogative. He does not have to justify why he has left out some players and picked others.
“That’s his choice according his plan for the matches. After all, this is not the first time for senior players to be left out. Moreover, some of them were also left out by the previous coaches.”
The winner between Malawi and Comoros will face the winner between South Africa and Egypt in the last round of the plays-offs.
The second round winner will book a place at the final tournament to be held in August.
