TNM to donate 1 free minute to all its customers for every goal Flames will score against Ethiopia as part of Mahape slogan

* This is our way of extending the Mahape moments to the football fraternity, and motivating the Flames to score

* The Flames must win the two remaining matches against Ethiopia and Guinea to stand a chance of a booking ticket to Côte d’Ivoire next year

By Duncan Mlanjira

Ahead of today’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Ethiopia at Zimpeto Stadium in Maputo, TNM Plc has pledged to donate 1 free minute to all its customers for every goal the Flames will score in the Group D encounter in Maputo, Mozambique as one way of boosting the fans’ morale.

Head of Marketing, Madalitso Jonazi said. “TNM, as a truly Malawian network, is a big fan of the Flames and Malawi football. As a sponsor of the country’s top-flight league, the Super League, and which is the bedrock of the Flames foundation, we thought of responding to the need for Malawians to cheer up their national team while using free airtime depending on the number of goals.

“For example, if Flames can score 10 goals, that means 10 free minutes for every customer registered on our network. This is our way of extending the Mahape moments to the football fraternity, and motivating the Flames to score,” he said.

Jonazi said the offer of free minutes is sponsored by TNM Mahape, a communication platform aiming to celebrate the utility from using TNM products and services.

“The Flames and Ethiopia game is a happiness moment hence TNM Mahape will reward customers with the free airtime depending on the number of goals the Flames can score.

“Through Mahape, the goal is to celebrate our network’s capability to empower users in their respective areas of effort, while achieving different milestones, and tomorrow’s match is one such opportunity,” he said.

Ahead of the game, Flames captain John Banda is quoted by https;//fam.mw as saying they will treat the all-important qualifier as cup final.

The Flames are third in Group D with three points, six behind second placed Guinea and nine behind leaders Egypt, who have already qualified for the AFCON.

Malawi and fourth placed Ethiopia are tied on three points but the Flames have an edge on head-to-head and the Flames must win the two remaining matches against Ethiopia and Guinea to stand a chance of a booking ticket to Côte d’Ivoire next year — which will be their first back to back AFCON appearance.

Fam.mw quotes captain John Banda as pledging that it would not be business as usual taking cognizance that the Flames will be eliminated in they fail to win.

“The team that is here is ready to do the job,” he is quarter as saying. “They are a lot of young boys who are promising good things. We should not repeat the things that we did wrong in the past that put us in this position.

“We know what is at stake here. Only a win will be good for us to brighten our chances of qualifying. We want to go back to the AFCON. So this is an important match to us but we are not under pressure.

“Our duty is to play football so we are ready and don’t have to panic. We know some of the players are new but as senior players we have to help them cope,” he said.

On his part, coach Patrick Mabedi told Fam.mw that they have prepared very well for the match having arrived in Maputo nine days ago to be fully focused for the encounter being played on neutral venue.

“We are looking forward to this game,” he said quoted as saying. “We need to put all our focus on this match and collect maximum points on Tuesday.

“Ethiopia are a good team. We beat them in the first leg but they have also done well and have good players and we need to be very careful in our approach.”