Online Reporter
YESTERDAY we carried a story about how some key stakeholders in Malawian football are backing the Warriors to do well at the AFCON finals in Morocco next month.
However, they say this will only be possible on one condition — we all throw our weight behind coach Super Mario.
The Warriors are hoping to clear the group stages for the first time and will have to negotiate their way from a group which features Egypt, South Africa and Angola.
A report from the respected Opta Analyst released this week said the Warriors and Botswana were the countries which had the least chances of lifting the AFCON trophy in Morocco.
Botswana have the least chances, at 0,12 percent, while Zimbabwe have the second least chances at 0,26 percent. Egypt, the record AFCON winners, have the second best chances of winning the trophy.
Opta Analyst says Mohamed Salah and his teammates have 12,75 percent chances of winning the tournament.
Only Morocco, with 19,6 percent chances, are ranked higher than Egypt. Algeria have the third best chances, Senegal are in fourth place and Nigeria are in fifth place.
South Africa have 2,11 percent chances of lifting their second AFCON trophy while Angola have 1,21 percent chances. This means that Opta Analyst expects the Warriors to finish bottom of their group.
But, some key football stakeholders believe Super Mario could surprise many if only the country could trust the Romanian coach and back him.
The stakeholders told us that we should just support Super Mario and we will be surprised by the way our team will perform in Morocco.
They reminded us that when he was their coach he took them beyond the group stages of the AFCON and they also beat us along the way.
The Malawian stakeholders said they believe we have better players than them and if Super Mario could help them get beyond the group stages then he can even do better with us.
They said he reads the game very well and he will make a big difference for the Warriors in Morocco.
Of course, what we shouldn’t forget is that Super Mario’s tenure as the Malawian head coach did not end well and he was forced out amid concerns that the Flames lost their way after the AFCON finals.
Super Mario was also forced out of his next job, where he was in charge of Sierra Leone, after the West Africans failed to qualify for the AFCON finals.
But, this doesn’t mean that the Romanian coach cannot succeed in his new job as the Warriors coach.
And, we agree with the Malawian stakeholders that we should throw our full support behind our new coach and see how far we can go at the tournament.
Even if we have our reservations, they don’t matter right now because Super Mario will be the man who will be in charge of our team in Morocco.
He is representing us and he deserves our full support.
