Everyword of Kalisto Pasuwa’s pre-Liberia presser

The Malawi National Team will host Liberia on Monday in World Cup Qualifiers at the Bingu National Stadium, the game will kick off at 18:00 CAT.

The Flames are coming off a morale-boosting 2-1 victory over Namibia last Friday and will be looking to make it two wins from two in their September assignments when they play in front of their home supporters.

Flames Head Coach, Kalisto Pasuwa faced the media on Sunday at Bingu National Stadium to preview the game

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“Team’s preparedness for Liberia“

“Like I said, we had one day of meeting the guys, we haven’t met maybe on the ground, it’s only today [Sunday evening] we are meeting them. Yah, we need to be patient enough in front of goal, you see some of the chances that we created and we were missing, it was a case of hurrying ourselves where we need also to be patient.

“But, like everyday, what we see, we are still building that team, we are doing our best to have a team that can participate in all the competitions.

Do you see progression of the team?

“One situation which is tricky that we are not seeing, remember, we have been playing in four different competitions; we had CHAN, COSAFA, AFCON Qualifiers and now we are having World Cup Qualifiers.

“We have been trying maybe mixing the players, if you can talk of now we are building the team, it’s now when we are having all the guys, as of now, yes, we can say that we are still building it. As you saw, there are some of the mistakes that we are making.

“Last time, we were saying, we will start off building from the back, but if you see, we are continuously conceding conceding same time of goals, lateral balls, every time a cross comes into the box, we are failing to defend it, so, those are some of the areas where we are saying, at times we need to have more repetition in order for one thing to come good.

“it’s good that we are saying that we are some points away from Namibia, but again, we are in a situation where we need to do right things. If we go out to say we need to go for a goal, we may end up opening and then losing that game.

“So, we need to be very patient enough, then at times we have those holes, then we go into them and a lot of mistakes that are being done in some areas, we need to be talking to the players, repeting what we have been telling them in order to catch up.

“Malango, Kumwenda to get minutes”

The Malawi National Football Team this time around called players who are based in Europe, Mayele Malango and Henry Kumwenda. Mayele was given last minutes of the game against Namibia on Friday and he managed to utilize the minutes to impress while Henry Kumwenda was an unused substitute.

When asked on why he decided not to give them the starting berths, Pasuwa said he did it deliberately to avoid disturbing the team building process but hinted that they may get more minutes against Liberia.

“It’s good that we called those players and remember, I called different types of players, some new players who are coming in. So, for me to say I can quickly put them all in the team, then we will start day one of rebuilding again, so, at times, if you have a new guy, you need to give him some minutes with other guys who were there in order for what you are cooking to come out.

“In this case, we had to give Mayele [Malango] last minutes of the game where maybe he showed who he is. Next time also, we will consider Henry [Kumwenda] and some of the other guys who are new.”

Pasuwa praises Mhango for beautiful goal against Namibia

Malawi National Team Head Coach Kalisto Pasuwa has lavished praise on striker Gabadinho Mhango, describing him as a role model for other players to emulate.

Gabadinho Mhango has experienced a remarkable resurgence under Pasuwa’s leadership, having been sidelined during Patrick Mabedi’s tenure as head coach. The experienced striker has now become the cornerstone of Malawi’s attack and has even been handed the captain’s armband in the absence of John Banda, whose return to the national team remains uncertain.

Since Pasuwa’s appointment, Mhango has featured in four matches, netting two crucial goals while consistently posing a threat to opposition defenses. His impact was particularly evident in Friday’s victory over Namibia in Botswana, where he delivered a moment of brilliance that epitomized his class.

The former Orlando Pirates striker doubled Malawi’s lead early in the second half with a spectacular long-range effort from just meters inside his own half, catching the Namibian goalkeeper off his line with a perfectly executed shot.

“[Gaba] is such kind of a player, and it’s not maybe the first goal that he has scored like he did the day before yesterday, I saw one, maybe it was against Morocco, he did the same thing again.

“So, [Mhango] is someone who has a goal in his heart, so, that is something that we are also looking from these others guys who are in the team to say, at times, quickly note the position where the goalkeepers are when we are attacking, after winning the ball, maybe we’re counter pressing, the moment you win the ball, you need a forward pass, making forward runs and then or even looking on the goal, how it is, hence we got the goals and that’s one thing maybe I thought to some of the local players who were playing in CHAN and COSAFA should be copying so that we can grow.”