Malawi coach Meck Mwase wore a brave face after witnessing the Flames being drawn alongside Zimbabwe, Guinea and heavyweights Senegal in Group B of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals.

Mwase attended the ceremony for the draw held on Tuesday evening in Yaonde, Cameroon, which will host the tournament next year.

In reaction, the Malawi mentor said they could not have asked for a better draw because all teams that have qualified for the AFCON finals are strong.

“All these teams are not pushovers. We all worked hard to qualify for the finals. I believe that all the teams have a chance to progress [to the next round]. It would only depend on how we prepare ourselves mentally and physically, so yes we can progress,” he said.

“We could not have chosen who to meet at the AFCON finals. All we can do is prepare well. We are neither scared nor underrating opponents. We believe in our boys that with determination, we can reach the next round.”

From next month, Malawi will take part in African qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, a platform Mwase said would use to prepare for the forthcoming AFCON finals.

 “As you know, it is just about a week [to go] before we start preparing for the World Cup qualifiers, so we are going to use these qualifiers to prepare for AFCON. Thereafter, we will sit down with the association and map the way forward on how we are going to prepare and where we will camp.”

Malawi has, in its football history, only been to the AFCON finals in 1984 and 2010 and on both occasions, failed to progress to the next round.