Former Flames and Nyasa Big Bullets skipper Peter Mponda has warned the country’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) ambassadors, Be Forward Wanderers and Masters Security, not to park the bus in their respective away ties.
Masters are on the road to Angola for a CAF Confederations Cup date against that country’s side Petro de Luanda on Saturday while Wanderers face As Vita of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the CAF Champions league on Sunday.
Both teams flew out on Thursday for the call of national interest, with the return matches to be played in two weeks’ time.
And Mponda who captained Bullets’ 2004 golden generation that became the only Malawian team to ever make the group stages of the CAF Champions league, had a word of caution for the two teams to never think of playing too deep in their adventures.
“Let’s not encourage them to park the bus, because the danger is, when you concede one goal, you end up leaking more. I would advise them to go out and try to either get a draw or just get an away goal in whatever result, but it must not be a heavy defeat,” said Mponda.
The Wizards owner and technical director then recalled how Bullets handled some of their away games in 2004, to sail through to the next round.
“When we played Orlando Pirates in the first leg in South Africa, we made sure we scored an away goal despite letting in two. And when they came here, a single goal was enough to take us through on away goals, having tied 2-2 on aggregate. Same thing in Zambia against Zanaco, we got a goal and despite conceding at home, we still progressed on penalties, which would have been a different case had we not scored on the road.”
Mponda added: “When we played Enyimba in Nigeria, we got a heavy 6-0 beating, rendering our home draw in the second leg meaningless, because we failed to get goals on the road. Wanderers have talented and experienced players who can get them away goals, so they should go for it. While for Masters, being an inexperienced side, if they want to defend, they should do that with the ball and be extra cautious,” said the former Black Leopards and Santos man.
He also warned both teams to expect a hostile environment on and off the pitch, an assertion echoed by Wanderers captain Joseph Kamwendo who had a spell in the DRC for TP Mazembe.
“People in the DRC are so passionate about football and they will do anything on and off the pitch to frustrate us. I have told my colleagues what to expect and how to deal with such. The good thing is, we have a number of experienced lads in the squad who have seen it all, and cannot be intimidated in any way. And Vita fans have on some occasions turned against their team, when things don’t go their way, so we can frustrate them and force a similar scenario,” said Kamwendo.
