FLAMES DRAWN IN A GROUP OF DEATH

Malawi National team have been drawn in group D of the Total Energies AFCON 2023 qualifiers alongside Egypt, Guinea and Ethiopia.

The draw of the qualifiers was conducted on Tuesday evening in South Africa, were the Flames was placed alongside Egypt who are ranked 32 in the world rankings  and are seven times champions for Africa’s biggest national tournament.

Flames will also lock-horns with Guinea, just four months after the Syli National defeated Malawi 1-0 at the just ended Afcon finals in Cameroon and they will also play against Ethiopia.

Reacting to the draw, Flames coach Marion Marinica admitted that Malawi has a very tough group but said everything is possible if his team prepare for all the three teams.

“All the teams have chances but this time, our Group seems to be a very tough Group. All the opponents have got a very good pedigree, track records especially Egypt, a fantastic team and fantastic players so it won’t be easy against them.

“Guinea had also a very good record over us and even Ethiopia who hammered us in the last friendly match we played against them and that was just last year. Therefore, all the three teams have got an upper hand against Malawi but like what we did at Afcon, we have to believe in our chances, we have to work hard, we have to stay together, we have to be well prepared, we have to be very organised, we have to analyse our opponents by seeing their strength, identifying their weaknesses and prepare for them,” said Marinica.

According to the Confederations of African Football (CAF), the first qualifying matches will be played from 30th May to 22 June.

The Flames will kick off their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying campaign with back-to-back ties at home against Ethiopia’s Walias and away to Guinea’s Syli Nationale.

The qualifiers will be played on match days one and two which fall between May 30 and June 14, according to a communique from CAF.