By Edwin Mbewe
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The head coach for the junior Warriors, Simon Marange says the four nations tournament which Malawi is hosting from this afternoon in the Capital, Lilongwe is an opportunity for them to bring back the real culture, integrity and pride for the junior team playing after almost two years of absence due to CAF ban.
Marange said this ahead of their clash against host Malawi this afternoon in their opening match of the competition.
“There is a lot of excitement in the camp, you know when you have young players, there is a lot of enthusiasm towards the game and I am also quite excited to see what we have done in the past week to go and demonstrate it on the pitch. But it is a good opportunity for the players and to me as a young coach.
“We didn’t compete in any tournament for almost two to three years so this is chance to us to bring back the right culture, integrity and pride for playing for the junior teams and to show identity and culture we have been working on. It’s definitely a new chapter and an introduction game as these players have no international exposure hence this tournament will help us to build the strong team”, said Marange.
His captain Allan Karakadzai says, he expects a tough encounter against Malawi this afternoon at Silver Stadium.
He added, “I’m excited to play for the national for the first time”.
However, Malawi National team coach Bob Mpinganjira says, preparations have gone on very well and players are in good shape and eager to play against Zimbabwe.
“We started training last week though it was for a short period but we are ready for the game.This tournament is good for the young stars in Malawi as it will give them international exposure.They are showing hunger for the games and there is no pressure amongst them playing at home”, explains Mpinganjira.
The four-nations tournament for the junior teams will be played on round robin format following the withdrawal of Zambia.
The first game is on this afternoon as host Malawi play against Zimbabwe at the Silver Stadium, in Lilongwe.
Before the ban of Zimbabwe Football Federation by CAF, Zimbabwe and Zambia dominated all championships in the SADC Region.
FIFA has sponsored all the four nations in logistics. First Capital Bank has sponsored Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to a tune of MK50 million.
