Malawi under-20 national football team step onto the natural grass of Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe with one mission of claiming victory when facing Swaziland in the first-leg of Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The Junior Flames will travel to Swaziland for the second-leg slated for April 21.<\/p>\n
Buoyed by the presence of Portugal-based forward, Abel Mwakilama, who joined the team on Wednesday, the Junior Flames hope for a good start against Swaziland.<\/p>\n
On paper, the Junior Flames are favourites to win but they must exercise caution when hosting the much-improved Swaziland.<\/p>\n
Having failed to play international friendlies, the Meke Mwase-led technical panel has a daunting task of building confidence among the charges who will be playing their first game in front of the home crowd after a long time.<\/p>\n
Mwase on Thursday said he was encouraged by the performance of his charges in training.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are playing at home so we have to encourage the boys to have confidence on the ball and play without pressure. We need to score more goals and defend<\/p>\n
jealously,\u201d Mwase said.<\/p>\n
Apart from Mwakilama, the Junior Flames have talent in abundance, with Captain Charles Thom, Peter Banda and Hastings Banda all available.<\/p>\n
Swaziland arrived on Wednesday and warned the Junior Flames to expect a tough run for their money today.<\/p>\n
The two teams last met in the 2017 Cosafa Youth Championship where Malawi got the better of their opponents with a 3-2 victory at Arthur Davis Stadium in Zambia.<\/p>\n
Swaziland, led by Coach Mandla Dlamini, are likely to feature Mlamuli Lukhele in goals with Muzi Tsabedze and Order Mamba leading the attack.<\/p>\n
Swaziland warmed up for Malawi by playing matches against Botswana (twice) and Mozambique last week.<\/p>\n
The overall winner between Malawi and Swaziland will face Angola in the second-round of the qualifiers.<\/p>\n
Malawi has gone 19 years without qualifying for the under-20 continental showpiece, having achieved it in 1999 in Ghana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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