At last, soccer pundits heaved a sigh of relief to read that Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has embarked on a progamme to revive Malawi football.<\/p>\n
Fam has at last managed to assemble the Under-17 National Football Team, under the tutelage of Derklerk Msakakuona, to feature at the Cosafa Youth Cup to run from July 22 to 31 in Mauritius.<\/p>\n
Reading between lines, from what Fam vice-President James Mwenda said, we have no reason to doubt that the association is indeed determined to build a strong future national team.<\/p>\n
Mwenda said the association wants to expose the youngsters and the coaches to international games. Even the Under-17 coach believes that he has assembled a strong squad for the tournament.<\/p>\n
Having read all the above statements, I still feel that there is need to remind each other about some things that have derailed Malawi football, especially when it comes to selection of coaching panel and players.<\/p>\n
It is my sincere hope that Msakakuona has picked right age players for this tournament. In the past, we have had a tendency of featuring over-aged players at junior tournaments, a thing that has destroyed the fabric of Malawi football.<\/p>\n
We have been desperate for positive results, but in the end we have always achieved shame. The Under 17 coach needs to be honest by picking the right ages, otherwise if our investigations reveal that he cheated, our acidic pens will not spare him.<\/p>\n
It is sad that the press is branded as unpatriotic when it exposes such anomalies. But Msakakuona should take this stern warning seriously.<\/p>\n
Fam needs to be realistic when appointing these junior national team coaches. These players need to be drilled with coaches who have the clout to be future senior national team coaches. We have had coaches drawn from a group of trailblazing footballers but they have failed to make any impact on the game.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t need empty-headed coaches who are appointed just because they represent the country\u2019s loyalty.<\/p>\n
Has Msakakuona got the right attributes to be the future Flames coach? I mean has he got technical know-how of the game? If he has, I have no qualms with his appointment. Possibly he has certain sheer brilliance that can make us eat a humble pie.<\/p>\n
Fam must always remember that developing players should be done concurrently with national team coaches for the sake of transition.<\/p>\n
Let us learn from our Angolan counterparts Angola who disregarded all its pampered stars plying their trade in Europe and featured a team dominated by Under-17 players at the just -ended Cosafa Castle Cup tournament in Namibia. A team our men, masquerading as the Flames, labored to beat the youthful Angola 3-1.<\/p>\n
All what the nation needs is patience as Fam is rebuilding the team. Let us not be desperate for results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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