GROUP E Matches involving Malawi

March 28, 2009: Away against Côte d’Ivoire
June 6, 2009: Home against Burkina Faso
June 20, 2009: Away against Guinea
May 9, 2009: Home against Guinea
October 10, 2009: Home against Côte d’Ivoire
November 11, 2009: Away against Burkina Faso

The first game will be played towards the end of the English Premiership League and I just hope the teams (Liverpool and Chelsea) will still be joint leaders then. On March 21, 2009 Chelsea will have a game against Tottenham and Arsenal will have a game against Newcastle. That means Drogba and Toure will only have about 7 days to prepare for the Malawi match. Yes, factor in jet lag. What a convenient day for Malawi.

Some facts about the teams that the Malawi Flames are going to play against:

The Guinea national football team, nicknamed Syli Nationale, have long been a significant force in African football. They qualified for their first African Nations Cup in 1970 and again in 1974. During the 70s and early 80s, its top club sides Hafia, Horoya and Kaloum Stars were significant players in African club football with Hafia and Horoya winning major trophies.

In 1976, Guinea came within minutes of winning the African Nations Cup, but a late equaliser for Morocco meant they finished runners-up. They qualified for the tournament again in 1980, which would be their last appearance for 14 years. Qualification for the World Cup eluded them during this period, with runs to the third round in the 1978 and 1982 qualifying series being their best performances.

After 1982, Guinea endured a decade of anonymity before the emergence of Titi Camara in the early 1990s ushered in a new generation which qualified for the 1994 African Nations Cup. Since then they have qualified for 1998, 2004 and 2006 tournaments, reaching the quarter-finals in the latter two.

The Burkina Faso national football team, nicknamed Les Etalons (The Stallions), is the national team of Burkina Faso and is controlled by the Fédération Burkinabé de Foot-Ball. They were known as the Upper Volta national football team until 1984, when Upper Volta became Burkina Faso.

Their best finish in the African Nations Cup was fourth in 1998, when they hosted the tournament. Even though they missed World Cup 2006, they were the only team in the qualification who beat the group winners Ghana, 1-0 at home.

The Côte d’Ivoire national football team (sometimes written “Ivory Coast” in English), nicknamed Les Éléphants (The Elephants), is the national team of Côte d’Ivoire and is controlled by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football. Until 2005, their greatest accomplishment was winning the 1992 African Cup of Nations against Ghana on penalties at the Stade de l’Amitie in Dakar, Senegal.

On October 8, 2005, they qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, marking their first appearance on the sport’s greatest stage. They were unable to qualify for the second round after losing to experienced teams such as Argentina and Netherlands in the so-called Group of death. They did manage to win one game in Germany, against Serbia and Montenegro, coming back from down 0-2 to win 3-2 on a late penalty kick by Bonaventure Kalou. Many observers of that year’s tournament said the team would have gone far, if they were not drawn in such a difficult group.