Flames assistant coach Jack Chamangwana says the friendly match against Tanzania last Sunday gave the technical panel a picture on how to build the team ahead of a busy 2015 international calendar that has 2017 Afcon qualifiers, 2018 World Cup qualifiers and the 2015 Cosafa Cup.
The Flames drew 1 all with the Taifa Stars with veteran striker Essau Kanyenda scoring first in the 5th minute before the hosts cancelled the lead with seven minutes to full time.
“It was a good match which was more at assessing new combinations as well as strengthening existing ones ahead of a busy year.
“We dominated the match in the first half and the opponents had a good game in the second half. But we are impressed with how the boys performed considering that we have not played a match since November last year,”
He also said despite not playing three of the four new players they took, the lads gained a lot by being with the team.New faces Gerald Phiri Jnr, Amos Khamula and Ernest Tambe were not given a run in Mwanza City while Red Lions’ Chikoti Chirwa made his debut as a second half substitute.
“It is not a matter of them just coming into the picture and play right away. They need to learn the culture, watch the team. We have a lot of games coming and they will play,” said Chamangwana.
The Flames next match is against Mozambique in the Cosafa Cup on 24th May in South Africa.
Afcon qualifiers will start in June and the draw will be done next week in Cairo while World Cup qualifiers whose draw will be done in July will start in September.
