Flames legend Peterkins Kayira has urged the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) not to exert pressure on the Malawi National Football Team Under 20 when considering promotion of the players to the senior team.
This comes after the Junior Flames emerged victorious in the Under 20 4 Nations tournament held over the weekend at Silver Stadium in Lilongwe.
The tournament was conducted in a round-robin style, with the team accumulating maximum points securing the bragging rights.
They defeated Kenya 3-1 and Zimbabwe 3-2 in their respective games.
Despite the success, Kayira believes that the team still needs to make significant progress before the players can be promoted.
“As Malawians, we have a misconception that we judge solely based on the results of the under 17s and under 20s. What if the team had been defeated 8-0? Let us not put excessive pressure on the boys, as they still need more exposure to improve their technical abilities,” Kayira said.
He also highlighted the need for improvement in certain areas.
“We have a lot of work to do when it comes to the youth team, and we must carefully select the right players,” he added.
Bob Mpinganjira, the coach of the team, expressed gratitude to FAM for organising the tournament, saying that it helped keep the team active.
“Our team played against strong opponents like Zimbabwe and Kenya. Normally, we rely on Cosafa tournaments, so this was a good opportunity for us,” Mpinganjira said.
In contrast, the senior side performed poorly at the tournament, suffering a 4-0 defeat against Kenya.
As a result, the Flames will now face Zambia in the third-place play-offs on Tuesday.
Zambia also lost to Zimbabwe 5-6 on post-match penalties after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
On Tuesday, Zimbabwe and Kenya will compete in the final of the tournament at the same venue.
