FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers (Round 2 -CAF)

Group F: Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya (Winner 1), Namibia (Winner 3)

“Copy and Paste” from fifa.com (16 October 2011):

Samson Siasia, Nigeria coach (Keshi is the new coach)
This draw is the best we could have hoped for but you cannot treat any African team lightly these days. If you do that, your team will end up being punished heavily. We’ll be taking every game very seriously and giving all we’ve got every time we take the field. Remember: even if we top the group we still have to face another side to qualify for the finals of the FIFA World Cup. We have to win convincingly in the group matches to gain confidence. It’s not a bad draw but we won’t be sleeping easy! We will put good plans in place and do our very best.

Walter Nyamilandu, President of the Football Association of Malawi
Nigeria are favourites to go through, but don’t belittle us or imagine that we will be easy opponents. There’s a football revolution in Malawi and we are well placed to qualify for next year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. It’s a tricky group but I reckon we have an excellent chance if we plan well and play to our strengths. Nigeria might be favourites but their record away from home is pretty poor. We have to hope they stumble and make our route to the top of the group that much easier.

Zedekiah Otieno, Kenya coach (Francis Kimanzi is the new coach)
Of course we’re expected to make it through to the group stage but one should never take one’s opponent lightly. If we don’t plan well we could be in for a shock. It’s important that we beat Seychelles and give our public the opportunity to see their national team play a few matches in the group stage. We’ve faced Nigeria three times in the last three years and though they have come out on top, there’s not a huge gap between the sides. We have also played Malawi and I would say we’re at about the same level.

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11 Nov: Chad 1:2 Tanzania (In Chad)
15 Nov: Tanzania 0:1 Chad (In Tanzania)

Tanzania through on away goals rule.

Chad vs Malawi (AFCON 2013 Qualifiers)

The first leg will be played in Chad. Malawi will need to win in Chad in order to avoid playing under pressure during the second leg. Chad should not be under-rated.

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With what happened during 2012 CAN qualifiers its hard to predict group winners. That said, I think Zimbabwe will win Group G

Malawi’s lowly ranked opponents, Namibia and Kenya are on fire and ready for wrestle with the best. Namibia demolished hapless Djibouti with an 8-0 aggregate, Kenya did the same against Seychelles with a 7-0 aggregate. Trust me Namibia and Kenya are not bad at all. Both countries have about 2 world class athletes plying their trade overseas.

Jolowa, June 2012 is 8 months away. Let’s start making predictions around May 2012.

Marco, Namibia and Kenya on fire? Using Djibouti and Seychelles as yard sticks? Anyway, I give them credit for winning away by at least 3 goals. The last time Malawi won away during a competitive match was against Djibouti (3-0) on 5 September 2008 (2010 World Cup Qualifiers Second leg). First leg was played on 31 May 2008 and Malawi won 8-1

Group A: South Africa, Botswana, Central African Republic, Ethiopia (Winner 7)

Ethiopia 5:0 Somalia (played today). Ethiopia on fire. Be afraid, be very afraid. During the first leg, Ethiopia played with 10 men because one was red-carded.

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Malawi can learn a thing or two (about Kenya) from the the interview the Seychelles Coach Jean-Louis Ralph had with cafonline.com before the second leg match:

Cafonline.com: What was your team’s main undoing during the first leg match and what are your tactical changes that we should expect on Tuesday?
Louis: We played extremely well but were caught napping during the decisive moments. We conceded the first goal from a set piece and it is something that we had worked on before the match. We also gave away the ball in the midfield too easily allowing Kenya to punish us. My defence could also not cope up with the speed of striker Dennis Oliech, who scored a brace from similar situations. We will have to be alert defensively and also play as a unit. We are the team under pressure to deliver now because we have to score goals and that is why we will be playing an attack minded game on Tuesday.

Cafonline.com: Do you believe that three days are enough for you to prepare the team for the return leg clash?
Louis: At some point yes…yes because as a coach I fancy playing back-to-back matches and we are strictly focused to beat Kenya. I don’t want to underrate them (Kenya). We are the underdogs going into the match. They are a good side with attack minded players and that is why my defenders will be required to be calm. We don’t want to concede goals like we did in the first leg encounter. We will play to keep the ball, attack and also defend.

Cafonline.com: What is your take on the Kenya team?
Louis: Kenya has a good side. They are a very high-quality side going forward and also have a well build midfield. We need to contain them from the midfield because that is where their game is built from. I liked the way they did the defending also because we created a few chances in Seychelles but their defenders were up to the task. Let’s wait and see what will be the outcome in the second match.

Cafonline.com: Are you fine with the weather situation?
Louis: Yes. We played under sunny conditions in Seychelles and I have realized here that it is windy. Our condition back home was not favorable because it tired some of my players. At least we can now play our game properly. My only worry is the condition of the pitch but we definitely can’t change that now.

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For the status of the Namibia appeal (AFCON 2012) click here.

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