It’s a Blantyre Derby in Malawi as the giants Mighty Wanderers will take on their old rivals FCB Nyasa Big Bullets in the FDH Bank semi-finals at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday.
The two are coming from another derby last Sunday when Wanderers demolished Bullets 3-0 in the league match at the same stadium.
Bullets were disappointed to have been humiliated in last week’s match, as it was the first time in many years to register that huge defeat to their rivals.
The last time Bullets lost 3-0 to Wanderers in the league was in 2010. Since the arrival of their former coach Kallisto Pasuwa in 2018, Bullets have only lost once to Wanderers in 2021.
However, since the arrival of coach Peter Mponda, who replaced Pasuwa in January this year, the Bullets have lost bothderbies they have played. The first league derby in the league they lost 1-0 before last week’s disappointing ending.
Mponda will be out to correct his mistakes and try to paint Blantyre City red, but that will not be an easy one, as Wanderers’ coach Bob Mpinganjira said his charges want nothing but victory.
Wanderers have never won this cup since its inception in 2021. The two have met twice in this cup, and Wanderers have lost all games.
They met in the semifinals in 2022, where Bullets were victorious—trashing their rivals 4-0 before hammering them again last year 2-1 in the round of 16. Bullets have won it twice in 2022 and 2023.
“It’s a cup we have never won” – Bob.
Mpinganjira said their plan is to win this cup, and tomorrow they will make sure they win to qualify for the final, where they will face Silver Strikers, who progressed over Civil Service United.
“Players are ready to face them again. These are two different games; this is a different game altogether. It’s a cup we have never won; we need to work hard and bring it home,” said Mpinganjira.
To Mponda it will not be easy work to come from 3-0 down last week to stop Wanderers, but he is hoping for a better outcome.
“I need to lift the spirits of my players; it was a bad game losing 3-0 to Wanderers last week. We will go again with hope that we will make it into finals. I hope we will get it right this time around. What I saw in training is hard work. We need to go and play our game,” he said.
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