The team at the crossroad of soccer
BY: Peter Qeko Jere
For a long time now our national team has performed poorly and I don’t have to remind you about all the games played because it’s just a shame. A lot is being said about this team and we wonder this poor performance this time around. When I was doing my primary education, football was at its best in the country because I remember those days though we had no Television; we still have huge passion for soccer through the radio. Jeffrey Msampha, Elias Kapangama spiced soccer that we could follow what was happening on the field of play. In my village weekends used to being nice because we could gather on a Khonde and listen to the broadcast and celebrate goals scored. For example, I remember this time when Malawi beat Egypt in Kenya and that evening when Clifton Msiya scored the only fantastic goal at the African Cup of Nation. Though I was not in the stadium but the guy took the ball from the opponent half and went through inside the enemy’s territory and crossed the 18 yard area and destroyed the defense and finally scored the goal. I will not forget this because I stayed awake that night to listen to the live commentary of the match. There was passion and Malawians love the good game.
Anyway am talking about the current national teams’ crisis where there performance is undesirable. They have tried many to instruct the boys to play and score goals but still sizikuyenda ayi. Now what is the problem here? As for me and many, we feel the problem is not the instructor or instructors we hire from abroad but our players. We don’t have good quality players this time in Malawi football. I mean players who can match the likes of Lule Way, Young Chimodzi, Gilbert Chirwa, Felix Nyirongo, Mabvuto Lungu, Ian Banda, Holman Malunga, Donex Gondwe, Denis Said, Frank Sinalo, Dickson Mbetewa , Jonathan Billy to mention but a few. We don’t have quality players in this country. We need to start all over again as far as football is concern. We need to abolish the national team and begin a rebuilding exercise. There is a need for a five years rebuilding plan for the national team so that talent identification should be done as it used to been those old good days. Blaming any instructor is not a solution to Malawi football. Even hiring a foreign coach is not a solution to this crisis because whoever will come to do the job will still be using unqualified football resource hence wastage of time and money. We need to go to the drawing board and put the house in order.
Some have argued that government is to blame. But we can’t blame government because we all know that with the resources that they have provided; our prayers have failed miserable even at our own backyard. It all goes back to the kind of prayers we have in this country at this moment in time.
Other blames the private sector for not sponsoring soccer into the country. We need to know that no one can put his money in a team that is not performing. If we had that team of long ago composed of these: Donnex Gondwe, Young Chimodzi, Gilbert Chirwa, Dickson Mbetewa, Rodgers and Felix Nyirongo , Mphatso Namwali in defence, things could not have been the same in this country. Malawi need to look for defenders of this caliber otherwise we will always not make it.
I heard someone blaming Malawians for not supporting the team. That the team performs poorly because we Malawians are not patriotic enough this time around as far as soccer is concern. I think We the people should not be blamed. Players need to be blamed because they are of poor quality and not able to match the standards of these men I have just mentioned in here.
For a long time now our national team has performed poorly and I don’t have to remind you about all the games played because it’s just a shame. A lot is being said about this team and we wonder this poor performance this time around. When I was doing my primary education, football was at its best in the country because I remember those days though we had no Television; we still have huge passion for soccer through the radio. Jeffrey Msampha, Elias Kapangama spiced soccer that we could follow what was happening on the field of play. In my village weekends used to being nice because we could gather on a Khonde and listen to the broadcast and celebrate goals scored. For example, I remember this time when Malawi beat Egypt in Kenya and that evening when Clifton Msiya scored the only fantastic goal at the African Cup of Nation. Though I was not in the stadium but the guy took the ball from the opponent half and went through inside the enemy’s territory and crossed the 18 yard area and destroyed the defense and finally scored the goal. I will not forget this because I stayed awake that night to listen to the live commentary of the match. There was passion and Malawians love the good game.
Anyway am talking about the current national teams’ crisis where there performance is undesirable. They have tried many to instruct the boys to play and score goals but still sizikuyenda ayi. Now what is the problem here? As for me and many, we feel the problem is not the instructor or instructors we hire from abroad but our players. We don’t have good quality players this time in Malawi football. I mean players who can match the likes of Lule Way, Young Chimodzi, Gilbert Chirwa, Felix Nyirongo, Mabvuto Lungu, Ian Banda, Holman Malunga, Donex Gondwe, Denis Said, Frank Sinalo, Dickson Mbetewa , Jonathan Billy to mention but a few. We don’t have quality players in this country. We need to start all over again as far as football is concern. We need to abolish the national team and begin a rebuilding exercise. There is a need for a five years rebuilding plan for the national team so that talent identification should be done as it used to been those old good days. Blaming any instructor is not a solution to Malawi football. Even hiring a foreign coach is not a solution to this crisis because whoever will come to do the job will still be using unqualified football resource hence wastage of time and money. We need to go to the drawing board and put the house in order.
Some have argued that government is to blame. But we can’t blame government because we all know that with the resources that they have provided; our prayers have failed miserable even at our own backyard. It all goes back to the kind of prayers we have in this country at this moment in time.
Other blames the private sector for not sponsoring soccer into the country. We need to know that no one can put his money in a team that is not performing. If we had that team of long ago composed of these: Donnex Gondwe, Young Chimodzi, Gilbert Chirwa, Dickson Mbetewa, Rodgers and Felix Nyirongo , Mphatso Namwali in defence, things could not have been the same in this country. Malawi need to look for defenders of this caliber otherwise we will always not make it.
I heard someone blaming Malawians for not supporting the team. That the team performs poorly because we Malawians are not patriotic enough this time around as far as soccer is concern. I think We the people should not be blamed. Players need to be blamed because they are of poor quality and not able to match the standards of these men I have just mentioned in here.
Having said this, let me agree with those who blame the football administrators in Malawi. In additional to players, these people are killing football. They all know what used to happening in football for a player to be identified and pick for training. They all know that we used to having the coca-cola trophy where teams all over the country compete. They also know we used to having regional select that were competing and out of that prayers were identified. But it’s a shock that the same people went through this process this time around fail to do like wise in Malawi soccer. They were suppose to force matters and make sure that Football standards are maintained and that we maintain our tradition in national team player identification. For your information, Mabvuto Lungu was identified at Saint Peters primary School because the man could score goal during Mayors Trophy games. Kinna Phiri was identifies all the way from Karonga. Now this time around it’s a joke for our officials to wake up in the morning and pick prayers in cities. There is no soccer in the cities but in the rural areas. Finally, let us do something about our nation time we are to retain our old glory.
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