By Raymond Siyaya Jnr

For the first time after many years, many malawian football enthusiasts have begun to nurture a rare fondness for the malawi national football team,the Flames.

This development is a no-brainer as in recent times, the Flames have notched up wins over Burkinafaso, South Africa, Comoros and Namibia, with most of these games played at the Bingu National Stadium under the tutelage of Callisto Pasuwa

The Flames pulled a surprise on Namibia, beating them away in Botswana 1-2 and fought from 2 nil down to draw against Liberia 2-2 at Bingu National Stadium.

Although these two games are pivotal as they are for permutations, they are also academic and sheer treasure trove of knowledge about the trends emerging in the team.

And here is what we have learnt:

The Right Flank ,The Achilles Heel?

Mcdonald Lameck and Robert Saizi were entrusted in the Namibia game to stop attacking wingers of Namibia and also provide the attacking width by running down the touch line and provide pinpointing crosses into the penalty area. But, during the Namibia game, none of the two was able to effectively perform these roles. In fact, the right flank was the point of entry for Namibia attacks. Almost all of their attacks originated from this flank. No wonder Saizi was consequently substituted at half time for Chawanangwa Kaonga. Saizi, at times, tried to operate as an inverted winger, but this too did not yield any dividends.

The right flank improved in the Liberia game as Mcdonald Lameck was able to bomb down the touch line with overlaps and underlaps and send in the much needed crosses in the box.

This right flank is one grey area Pasuwa and Co need to look at and improve because even in the Liberia game,the first goal malawi conceded had to do with Mcdonald Lameck leaving Patrick Mwaungulu to compete for an aerial ball against a taller Liberian player. Lameck as a defender could have fared better against the taller player but he switched off and the Flames conceded barely 4 minutes into the game.

Lloyd Njaliwa The Midfield Maestro and Juggernaut?

Every team has an unsung hero. This is a player who does the dirty and donkey work at the midfield by conducting play through linking up with attackers and dropping deep to help defenders. Njaliwa was gracious in both, and his physical presence was overwhelming for opponents in both games, especially the Namibia game. He was the springboard or launch pad for most of the Flames attacks. He oozed leadership as he was able to organise the defencive blocks when the Flames lost possession and was vocal in setting up defencive walls against free kicks by shouting orders to his fellow players. He is captain in waiting and was box to box, winning aerial duels and competing for every ball at the midfield.

Gabadihno ‘Ageing Like Wine’.

Frank Gabadihno Mhango’s two goals and one assist are a sharpened dagger at the heart of Patrick Mabedi, the previous coach who dropped him citing old age despite many fans protesting his undue exile from the team. But Pasuwa’s ‘arm over the shoulder’ approach and warmth have unlocked the Gabadihno everyone loves to watch and now, he is off the hinges.

His thunderous belter from the halfway line chipping the goalkeeper who was off the line is testament to the level of experience he has racked up over the years and evidence of a punisher he is, when let loose.

Then, Enter Mayele Malango.

From the get-go, not much was known about Mayele Malango when his name appeared in the Flames call-up. He had many sceptics he needed to prove wrong. And he did in style. For the Namibia game, he had a cameo, but his presence was still felt as his first touch was fantastic and showed dexterity. No wonder Pasuwa gave him 30 minutes in the Liberia game, and he showed again that he deserves more than that. He is definitely the future for malawi.

GAZING AT THE CRYSTAL BALL.

The future for Malawi football looks great. When Pasuwa first came in,foreign based players and locally based players could not play as a team. There was no chemistry and looked like strangers had been bundled together and forced to play, especially the Namibia game malawi played at Bingu National Stadium.

Now the team has a shape,players are able to combine and build from the back while breaking lines of opponents, and we are scoring goals and not only from set pieces.

The Flames under Pasuwa together with the entire technical panel including Peter Mponda, a coach known for his obsession for ‘standards’ on how professional football players are supposed to apply themselves will be an unextinguishable inferno that is set to blaze over africa.