Malawi national team head coach Kalisto Pasuwa has said that to beat Zambia in the Four Nations tournament, his team must shed the mindset that they are facing locally based players, as that approach will not yield results.

Pasuwa was responding to yesterday’s draw, which saw the Flames of Malawi drawn against Zambia, while hosts Botswana will face Zimbabwe in the tournament set to kick off on March 28 at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown.

The coach said that when his players believe they are facing only locally based opponents, it affects their approach to the match.

“We all know that Zambia is a powerhouse of football in Southern Africa, [so] we are preparing ourselves not to go there and say it’s Zambia whom we are playing with, and we don’t even care if they are bringing the local guys. What we know is that we are playing Zambia,” he said.

“The moment we put in mind that we are playing locally based, it becomes an issue. Remember last time we played Sao Tome and Principe? We went with that mindset that we had won last time, and the mind switched off. So we are saying we are playing Zambia, and we rise up our heads in order for us to get results,” said the former FCB Nyasa Big Bullets coach.

Pasuwa released a 25-member squad, which includes nine locally based players. For the first time, he has included U20 and Hannover 96 attacker Mwisho Mhango.

Meanwhile, Zambia has split its national team, with senior and foreign-based players heading to Argentina for a friendly against the world champions next Tuesday, while a separate squad of locally based players will take part in the Four Nations tournament.

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