The Flames face a date with destiny when they face South Africa’s Bafana Bafana away in Pretoria on Sunday as a positive result will earn them a ticket to their first ever Chan Finals.
The Flames hold an advantage following their 1-0 in first leg at home and will qualify if they win or draw in Pretoria.
The Kalisto Pasuwa side can also qualify on away goal rule if they lose by a one goal margin after scoring one or more away goals.
With a hungry young squad-arguably the cream of Malawi’s local crop- the Flames, have to show character and resilience under an expected hostile crowd l.
The Flames arrived in the rainbow nation on Friday and are expected to feature a team that has proved productive to mentor Pasuwa over the past few games.
South Africa, smarting from the narrow loss in Lilongwe in the first leg have reinforced their squad and are expected to go flat out and attack the visitors from the first whistle.
However, the Malawi technical panel is well aware of the threat Bafana Bafana poses playing at home and have been working on a formula to neutralize any threats and ensure qualification at the expense of the home team.
Summing up the final preparations for the tie Assistant Coach Mponda said: “We are well-prepared, and we’ve reminded the players not to get carried away by our 1-0 lead. We need to be cautious and strike a balance between attacking and defending. We haven’t come here just to defend, we have a clear game plan.”
“We’re not losing sleep over the changes they’ve made to their squad. If anything, it shows there’s a bit of panic in their camp. Our focus is to stick to our strategy and execute it at Loftus Stadium,” he said.
