YOUNG CHIMODZI SEEKS BALANCE
Flames coach Young Chimodzi’s battle cry for Saturday’s combat against Chad is that his charges must strike a balance between going for the jugular and keeping it tidy at the rear.
“We need to attack, but at the same time we do not want to be careless. We need to be cautious because if we draw, it will be tough in the reverse match in Nd’jamena [on the weekend of May 30 2014]. There is need for us to win,” Chimodzi said ahead of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations first-round, first-leg qualifying match.
Last year, the Flames strolled to a 2-0 win over Chad at Kamuzu Stadium, but at the back of Chimodzi’s mind is the 2-2 away draw that hurt like a defeat in 2011. With that result, Malawi was denied a place at the 2012 Nations Cup final.
“Chad have to be respected. It is certainly not going to be a walkover. They have good players drawn from European clubs. It is a team nobody should underrate,” said Chimodzi who was then Kinnah Phiri’s right-hand man.
Chad are considered the backwater of African football. After all, they are ranked on a distant 165 against 122 for the Flames who have in the last four meetings won twice, lost and drawn once against the visitors coached by 51-year-old Frenchman Emmanuel Tregot.
“I want to help the Chadian people find her smile to come to terms with his football, reconnect with good results. All this is possible if the means are available to me in time,” Tregoat told a press conference on Tuesday as quoted by Chad press.
They say statistics do not lie, but if player-by-player be a variable for gauging the two teams, then Chad have, on paper, better 12 players spread in Europe, against just Tawonga Chimodzi for Malawi; hence, the Malawi coach has a point.
Chad goalkeeper Kodion Angel plays for Metz in France. Other players are Ahmed Elie Alifa (Herouville, France), Betorangal Morgan (FC 91 Dudelange, Luxembourg), Jules Hamidou (SR Delémont, Switzerland), Nadjim Haroun (Bornem, Belgium) and Ndoram Rodrigue (Serdre La Chapelle, France), Mahamat Azrack Yassine (Lokomotiv Sofia, Bulgaria), M’baiam Marius (Grenoble, France), Kevin Nicaise (RWDM Brussels , Belgium) and Altana Sanaa of Royal Mouscron, Belgium), Frederick Nimani (OFI Crete, Greece), Ndouassel Ezekiel (Club Africain, Tunisia), Labbo Mahamat (Charleroi, Belgium), Idangar Sylvain (Limonay, France) and Djime Nan Leger (Difaa El Jadida, Morocco).
Previously, Malawi beat Chad 6-2 then lost 3-2. Chad are athletic, physical and always finish games stronger. The overall winner will face either Sao Tome or Benin to produce a side that completes Group B which has seeded Ethiopia, Mali and Algeria.
In the last meeting last year at Kamuzu Stadium, Joseph Kamwendo and John Banda scored. Kamwendo admitted that: “Chad is a very difficult side. They play a physical game, but we are also fit.”
