By Thumbiko Nyirongo There will be no room for family ties when Ekhaya FC and Mighty Wanderers meet in Sunday’s Airtel Top 8 final at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, with both camps focused on winning the trophy. The final has attracted attention because of the Mpinganjira family connection, with Mighty Wanderers president and sponsor […]
By Thumbiko Nyirongo
There will be no room for family ties when Ekhaya FC and Mighty Wanderers meet in Sunday’s Airtel Top 8 final at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, with both camps focused on winning the trophy.
The final has attracted attention because of the Mpinganjira family connection, with Mighty Wanderers president and sponsor Thomson Mpinganjira on the Nomads’ side, while his son William Mpinganjira funds Ekhaya.
But Ekhaya coach Enos Chatama and his Wanderers counterpart Bob Mpinganjira have made it clear that once the game starts, the family connection will not matter.
Chatama says Ekhaya, who are appearing in the final for the first time, are ready for the challenge.
“This is our final for the team since we got promoted from the Premier Division last season. This is also our first participation in the competition and we expect to give them a tough ride for the money,” Chatama said during a pre-match interview on Saturday.
The Ekhaya coach knows what it means to play in a cup final, having been involved in several during his coaching career. He says his players also understand what is at stake.
“Being in a cup final is being in a cup final. Every time when you get to the cup final, you want to win,” he said.
Chatama- We believe tomorrow it will be a battle down to the wire
Ekhaya have not been enjoying the best of form going into the final, but Chatama is not worried that this will affect his team.
He believes the players have had enough rest and are ready for Sunday’s game.
The coach is also expecting another tight contest, based on the teams’ previous meetings.
“All the matches we played in this Cup have been tight. We played with Bullets twice, it was tight. We played against Karonga, it was tight. We played Wanderers in the league, it was tight,”
“We believe tomorrow it will be a battle down to the wire. We are not ready to surrender the Cup tomorrow,” Chatama said.
At Wanderers, Mpinganjira is also refusing to read too much into previous results between the two sides.
The Nomads have beaten Ekhaya twice in their previous league meetings, but Mpinganjira says that will not give his team an automatic advantage in the final.
Mpinganjira- There is no friendship in football
“It’s another game, completely. We won two league games in the past, and we drew against them in the league game this year. But this one is a new game, and it’s a Cup game,” he said.
Mpinganjira wants his players to approach the match with the right attitude and not take Ekhaya lightly.
“We will not take it for granted that we beat them last time and we will do the same. We need to fight, we need to work hard, so that we get the result,” he said.
And on the family connection surrounding the final, the Wanderers coach was equally blunt.
“There is no friendship in football. We take it very seriously to win this cup,” Mpinganjira said.
Ekhaya booked their place in the final after eliminating defending champions FCB Nyasa Big Bullets on penalties in the quarterfinals before beating Karonga United 2-1 in the semifinals.
Wanderers, meanwhile, defeated Creck Sporting 3-1 on aggregate in the quarterfinals before overcoming Blue Eagles on penalties in the last four.
The Nomads are chasing their second Airtel Top 8 title after winning the competition in 2022, while Ekhaya are looking to finish their first appearance in the tournament with the trophy.
The winners will walk away with K40 million.
Follow the story
