BY PETER KANJERE
Malawi under-20 national football team should be wary of South Africa’s Amajita, their opponents in next month’s third and final Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Amajita Coach, Thabo Senong, has beefed up his 26-member squad with seven new players, including Belgium-based Keith Groenewald of Standard Liege.
South Africa will host Malawi in the first-leg match on July 14 at Moruleng Stadium in North West Province followed by the return leg in Lilongwe after a fortnight.
To qualify for the final round, Malawi saw off Angola 4-2 on aggregate whereas South Africa ousted Mozambique 4-1 over two legs.
South Africa’s Kick-Off magazine website reports that Senong, who is also Bafana Bafana assistant coach, has kept most players who featured in the matches against Mozambique.
Senong has also included defenders Keenan Abrahams (Ajax Cape Town), Sibusiso Mabiliso (Amazulu) and Bradley Cross (Bidvest Wits), midfielders Mfanafikile Dlamini (Golden Arrows) and Khanyisile Mayo (SuperSport United) and striker Thabiso Monyane (Orlando Pirates) to join team mate Lyle Foster and Wiseman Meyiwa of Kaizer Chiefs.
Earlier, Senong told South Africa’s media that s his team needs to work hard to defeat Meke Mwase’s charges.
“Malawi are scoring a lot of goals, but they are also conceding. We need to work hard in our preparation to defeat them. Football has changed— teams are now experiencing a lot of pressure at home because of expectations from their fans, so that puts them in an anxiety mode,” Senong told Kick-Off.com.
Mwase has since released his provisional squad minus some players who are sitting for Malawi School Certificate of Education examinations. Mwase was not available for a comment yesterday.
The players who have been exempted from early camp training for them to concentrate on the examinations are Peter Banda, Patrick Mwaungulu, Redson Gopani, Joseph Balakasi and Tony Bias.
The absent players have been replaced by Andrew Numero, Stanley Billiat and Prince Chingamcheke. Malawi and South Africa will prepare for their game with a warm up against Zambia.
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