* What is the meaning of building a team for years and years. Has footblall became politics where at times the truth is never spoken?
* It’s becoming worrisome now — pull-up your socks please! How many lessons are we going to learn before starting to win?
Analysis by Duncan Mlanjira
After the performance of the Flames against Botswana national football team as part of Malawi’s 61st Independence Anniversary celebrations, which the visitors won 3-0 through post match penalties after drawing 1-1, head coach Kalisto Pasuwa believes the result was secondary to the experience gained — especially as the team continues to rebuild.
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He emphasised that the international friendly offered valuable lessons, despite ending in the penalty shootout defeat in front of a packed Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Sunday — graced by President Chakwera and visiting Botswana President Gideon Duma Boko.
But fans — reacting to a report by Football Association of Malawi (FAM) posted on Facebook — are not satisfied of the assertion of building a team, with Chifundo Thawiha asking: “Until when, manager, what is the meaning of building a team for years and years.
“Has footblall became politics where at times the truth is never spoken? It’s becoming worrisome now — pull-up your socks please!” he said while Ernest Perenje added: “How many lessons are we going to learn before starting to win?”
Pasuwa and his assistants Peter Mponda and Prichard Mwansa
Under Pasuwa and his assistants Peter Mponda and Pritchard Mwansa in the interim, the Flames — with a full squad involving foreign-based players, drew 0-0 with Burundi away and beat Burkina Faso 3-0 at home in the ceremonial Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) Morocco 2025 qualifiers.
The performance gave FAM the confidence to offer him a contract in February replacing fired coach Patrick Mabedi due to the Flames’ miserable performance in the AfCON qualifiers in which they eliminated with two games in hand.
Under Mabedi, the Flames failed to register a single win in the AfCON 2025 qualifiers — eliminated following 2-3 loss to Burundi; 1-3 to Burkina Faso and back-to-back 0-4 and 0-1 losses against Senegal away and at home turf, Bingu National Stadium respectively.
After signing the contract, Pasuwa’s domestic league players offered a sense of home by beating Comoros 4-0 on aggregate — 2-0 each in both of qualifying legs of the African Nations Championship (CHAN).
They next dated South Africa in the final round in which they won 1-0 at home but went on to get eliminated by losing 2-0 away.
And while the domestic league players were expected to have gained some tactical cohesion ahead of the COSAFA Cup 2025, another huge disappointment was recorded — playing out three group matches in which they just came out with a single point and without scoring any goal and just conceding two in the 0-1 losses each to Lesotho and Angola.
Thus the fans are not satisfied of Pasuwa’s claim that he is building a team. He is quoted by FAM Media as saying: “We can’t jump from zero to seven — you go one, two, three. If we’re given time, we’ll get there. These games are crucial for growth, especially as we identify and correct key areas of weakness.”
Malawi controlled the first half and created numerous scoring opportunities but failed to convert while Botswana capitalised on a defensive lapse early in the second half, with Tebogo Kopelang putting the visitors ahead.
This defensive lapse has been observed in the games against South Africa in the CHAN qualifiers and at the COSAFA Cup — thus the fans sneering that until when will these weaknesses be curtailed to start getting stronger in all departments.
Scorer of the equaliser, Wisdom Mpinganjira
FAM Media reports that attacking midfielder, Wisdom Mpinganjira, who is current top scorer in the TNM Super League, rescued the Flames with a late equalizer, “but Malawi’s misfiring continued in the shootout, failing to convert all three penalties”.
Collings Kalichero and Martin the Entrepreneur questioned Pasuwa’s choice of starting three defenders to take the first penalty kicks — “How? asked Martin. “Is this the modern football style we were looking for?”
“Learning and learning and learning — no degree,” scoffed Augustine Chiumia while Mike Makano observed that “every coach [is supposed to have] his own team [that should deliver]. When and where are they going to gain the experience?” — he asked.
However, Pasuwa assures that he has noted improvement in some aspects of Malawi’s play — particularly in their buildup and positional discipline and stressed the need to sharpen the attack and transition phases, where the Flames continue to struggle.
“We dominated early, but one lapse and we were punished,” he is quoted as saying. “The difference today was our finishing — we need to improve in the final third, where most of our attacking moves are breaking down.”
Fanuel Mhango noted the same observation from Pasuwa of the players’ mistakes, saying “they had a lot of chances but failed to score — and very poor at taking penalties”.
While Dumisani Mfuni hinted that the Flames should be suspended from competitive matches for 5 years by reorganising some strong structures for transition to senior teams: “Flames silibwino. For now let’s invest in women’s football — there’s less competition and we can win some continental trophies!”
But it should be noted that when Pasuwa was being unveiled, FAM mandated him to focus on AfCON 2027 qualification as top priority mandate and his other mission is to build a very competitive squad through the remaining remaining six matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ qualifiers — to win at least three games.
FAM president Fleetwood Haiya alluded that since the COSAFA Cup is a developmental competition, Pasuwa was tasked to aim at winning it in the next two years while no targets were set for CHAN, which is only for domestic league-based players.
On his part, Pasuwa said in February that his coaching philosophy “is built on principles of teamwork, discipline and hard work” and that he believes by working together, “we can achieve greatness”.
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“My goal is to create a strong team and culture that is built on trust and respect and communication,” he had said. “In the long term we aim to establish ourselves as one of the top teams on the continent and world at large by, among other things, scouting and developing world class players that can compete at bigger stages.”
Meanwhile, Botswana coach, Morena Morebodi commended the Flames for their performance, saying it was “a very competitive and well-organised match” that eased his younger players’ high-pressure away environment.
“We had limited preparation, but the players showed discipline,” Morebodi said. “Matches like this prepare them mentally for international duties.”
