Malawi coach Mario Marinica has reacted to the ‘tough’ draw for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) group qualifying stage.
Marinica said the Flames have tough Group D opponents in Ethiopia, Guinea and Egypt.
“Like all the draws, there are no easy draws,” he said in a recorded message to the media.
“All the teams there have their chances. This time, our group seems to be very tough; all the opponents have a very good pedigree. They have a very good track record.”
The Romanian, who was in charge of the Flames at the 2021 AFCON finals in Cameroon, cited the Mohamed Salah-led Egypt and Naby Keita’s Guineas as tough opponents.
“If you to look particularly at Egypt; fantastic team, fantastic players, so it is not easy. Guinea also have a much better record against us. Even Ethiopia, if you look at the last match we played, Ethiopia won against Malawi 4-0 and that was recently in 2021. Therefore, all the three teams have an upper hand against Malawi.”
The former South Africa’s Black Leopards mentor, however, said the Flames could qualify for AFCON again if they prepared well for the qualifying games scheduled to start in July.
“Like we have done in [2021] AFCON, we have to believe in our chances, we have to work hard, we have to stay together, we have to be very well prepared and very organized. We have to analyse our opponents see their strengths, identify their weaknesses and prepared for this and if we do like at AFCON we have the chances,” he said.
Holders Senegal have been drawn in Group L of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) group stage qualifying round alongside minnows Benin, Mozambique and Rwanda.
The draw took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday with Bafana Bafana legend Lucas Radebe and Ivorian Salomon Kalou involved in the proceedings.
Most of the giants have avoided each other with no particular group of death.
The 2021 AFCON hosts Cameroon are in Group C alongside Kenya, Namibia and Burundi.
Full draw:
Group A: Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome e Principe or Mauritius
Group B: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Togo, Eswatini
Group C: Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Burundi
Group D: Egypt, Guinea, Malawi, Ethiopia
Group E: Ghana, Madagascar, Angola, Central African Republic
Group F: Algeria, Uganda, Niger, Tanzania
Group G: Mali, Congo Brazzaville, Gambia, South Sudan
Group H: Ivory Coast (hosts), Zambia, Comoros, Lesotho
Group I: Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Mauritania, Sudan
Group J: Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Botswana
Group K: Morocco, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Liberia
Group L: Senegal (holders), Benin, Mozambique, Rwanda