By Mabvuto Kambuwe in Tunis, Tunisia:
Malawi National Football Team captain John ‘CJ’ Banda believes the Flames can pull a surprise when they face Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers this evening.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 11pm Malawi time at Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi in the North African country’s capital, Tunis.
After last night’s training session, Banda, who is the most experienced player in the squad, said the Flames will draw inspiration from teams such as Gambia and Comoros who defeated the Carthage Eagles at their own backyard last year.
“We know that we are underdogs considering that we are playing away. But we can cause an upset here. We just need to be at our best,” Banda said.
Comoros stunned the former African champions 1-0 in the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers in October last year.
The result ended Tunisia’s 16- game unbeaten run then.
Similarly, The Gambia also secured a 1-0 victory over Tunisia at the same venue in the Afcon qualifiers in November last year.
The Flames on-field leader said although the odds are stacked against the Flames following their 1-0 home defeat to Tunisia on Thursday evening, there is renewed hope in camp that a win away from home is possible.
“The loss to Namibia is now water under the bridge. This is a different ball game. The boys are eager to impress and fight for the nation,” Banda said.
But the veteran midfielder, who was an unused substitute against Namibia, is likely to be thrown into the fray in tonight’s encounter as coach Kalisto Pasuwa will be looking to stabilise his engine room.
Banda is leading an army of fellow experienced stars including Mozambique-based strikers Richard Mbulu and Lloyd Njaliwa, defender Dennis Chembezi who plies his trade in Iraq, and the Zimbabwe-based trio of goalkeeper William Thole and defenders Nickson Nyasulu and Gomezgani Chirwa.
Chawanangwa Kaonga, who is based in Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo-based duo of Lanjesi Nkhoma and Patrick Mwaungulu, are also available for the clash.
Flames coach Kalisto Pasuwa said his charges need to be strong.
“We are meeting Tunisia, a team that, at times, has been struggling at home. Anything can happen. I have been telling the boys ‘let us go out there and play our football’. We know where we made mistakes. So let us go and correct them. We need to, at least, get something in the bag. We need to attack and, at the same time, be very solid in defence. Tunisia are very good at counterattacks and they are speedy,” Pasuwa said.
He said the absence of Mhango and Petro might be felt but was confident that other players would rise to the occasion.
“We have some youngsters who are just coming in. This is the time for them to show us that they can play,” he said.
The Flames are in Tunisia without the services of South Africa-based striker Gabadinho Mhango and defender Charles Petro who plays in Romania.
The two were dropped after picking injuries during the match against Namibia.
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