Malawi coach Pasuwa insists he doesn’t favour Nyasa Big Bullets players

Pasuwa: Photo Credit: COSAFA media.

Malawi senior national team coach Kalisto Pasuwa has dismissed claims that he favours FCB Nyasa Big Bullets players in his Flames squad selections.

He was forced to defend himself during a press conference held in Blantyre on Thursday following the Flames’ premature exit from the COSAFA Cup in South Africa.

The team’s poor performance in the tournament has raised questions about the Zimbabweans’ selection criteria. Fingers pointed at the inclusion of benchwarmers from Bullets.

Other sections of Malawi football accused him of favouring players from Bullets. However, the former Dynamos FC’s gaffer insisted that he is too professional to select players just because they are from his former club.

“I am wearing the face of being a former Bullets’ coach, but remember when I came here, I came as a professional coach,” he said.

Pasuwa justified the selection of more players from one club, saying he does not have the luxury of time to try new combinations. “I said we went to compete. Unfortunately, we could not win or even score a goal,” he said.

Pasuwa insisted that he took a risk travelling to the tournament with inexperienced players because he wanted to begin shaping the players.

“We are trying to build a team that will qualify for the AFCON 2027 finals. If we had Alick Lungu, we would not have been able to play Emmanuel Nyirenda. If we had Nickson Mwase, we would not have been able to play Blessings Mpokera. If we had Lloyd Aaron, we could not have played Blessings Singini,” he said.

The Flames lost 1-0 to Lesotho, drew 0-0 with Namibia and lost 1-0 to Angola, a performance the former Warriors manager admitted was not good enough.