Take Malawi Game Seriously - Sibanda

Warriors manager Ernest Sibanda has dismissed suggestions that the dead rubber Nations Cup qualifier against Malawi was a useless tie and warned players about the consequences of failing to fight for glory on Sunday.

The Warriors failed to qualify for the finals scheduled for Ghana next year, a development which also saw them plunge out of the top 100 on the Fifa rankings, the worst ever placing since Independence.

The Warriors - under sacked coach Charles Mhlauri - only managed a single point following defeats to group winners Morocco and Malawi and drawing against the Atlas Lions at Rufaro on March 25.

This has turned Sunday's match into a dead rubber but Sibanda the match is an important one and has already held a meeting with the players to explain its significance. "We know that we have failed to qualify and everyone has been saying this match is not important at all. Yes, we have failed to qualify, but this match is very important for many reasons.

"It's the same thing that I told the players this morning, I held a meeting with them when I was briefing them on the code of conduct. "I told them two major issues that while we are not going to qualify, we need a win against Malawi at all costs. "We have fallen on the Fifa rankings and so many of them have dreams of playing overseas and I told them that some countries (United Kingdom) require that your country be ranked in the top 75 to play there.

"We are not in a healthy position at the moment and we need to work hard to achieve a better ranking. For our football to develop we also need to have a better ranking so that we can also be invited to some top football nations for tournaments and friendlies, which can also help them develop as players.

"A win for us against Malawi could help us achieve a lot in the long term, it could also boost their chances of being part of the future squad if they play very well, so everything is there for them to fight."

Sibanda believes the majority of the players in the squad to face the Flames could form the nucleus of the squad for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup finals qualifiers. "The boys that we have called in camp have the pedigree to make the future squad. We have a number of experienced players already and the whole idea is to blend these players with the youngsters.

"That is the reason why we decided to use the local players we believe have the potential against Malawi and we will keep on working on developing them by playing them at the highest level. "They need that experience and we need more games and tournaments so that they gain more experience in the years to come," he said.

There has been debate locally about the significance of the trip to Malaysia especially considering that only a few of the players that flew out to Asia made it for the Malawi game.

But Sibanda believes that the current squad that faces the Flames should have travelled to Malaysia.

"I think what we need to do in future is to assess what kind of tournaments we have been invited to. I think what happened with the tournament in Malaysia is that it was taken as a mere social gathering since it was an invitational tournament. We thought that the games in Mozambique were going to be competitive but personally I feel that this team that we have in camp right now should have gone to Malaysia. "We played six games there and the tournament was very competitive. It could have helped our players by giving them the exposure and it could have been a very good preparation for our coaches.

"We need more tournaments like these and we can only get them if we can show the world that we are a competitive nation and that is what I have been telling the players," said Sibanda.

The Warriors held their first training at White City yesterday morning. But they were still without Clemence Matawu and Obert Moyo, who are in South Africa, with the Mighty Bulls captain reported to have signed for Silver Stars while the former Hwange captain's destination is yet to be established.