FCB Nyasa Big Bullets will be back on the road this week to face the newly-promoted Extreme FC in the TNM Super League at Civo Stadium on Saturday.
Kalisto Pasuwa’s side returns to Lilongwe two weeks after drawing 1-1 with Silver Strikers in the opening match of the 2023 Super League of Malawi campaign at the Bingu National Stadium.
This Saturday’s opponents and our first team will meet for the first time, having seen their organized friendly match last month cancelled due to a 14-day mourning period set by the Malawi Government in memory of the Cyclone Freddy victims.
As we count down to Saturday, here is what you need to know about Joseph Mlamba’s side.
The Mchinji-based side became the first team in history to represent the district in the top-flight league after they were promoted at the end of the 2022 Chipiku Central Region Football League.
Extreme finished the knockout stages in the second tier with a whooping 20 points, beating their closest challenger Wimbe FC for a slot in the TNM Super League.
They should have earned the promotion in the 2020/21 season, but they lost the plot to Dedza Dynamos, who joined the elite league at the end of that campaign.
The rookies, who lost to our reserves in the 2022 FDH Bank Cup semifinals, will host the defending champions in what promises to be an exciting encounter between these two teams.
The coach
Chifuniro Chimkokomo is the man behind Extreme FC’s promotion to the top-flight league. He has been with the team for more than two years.
Since his appointment, he had been closer to taking the team into the Super League.
In the 2020/21 season, a win against Dedza Dynamos would have earned his side promotion only to draw the game 1-1 and miss out.
But the following season he got it right and became the only coach to inspire a team from Mchinji to a Super League promotion.
However, at the start of the campaign, Chimkokomo became Extreme FC’s second assistant coach as his qualifications do not permit him to be the head coach of a Super League team.
Currently, the team is being coached by assistant coach Joseph Malizani in the absence of head coach Joseph Mlamba, who is on sabbatical leave.
The Squad
Unlike the other two promoted sides in the league, Bangwe All Stars and Chitipa United, Extreme FC did not make big-name signings during the January Transfer Window.
The only notable faces in the squad are Trevor Kalema, who was released by Silver Strikers at the start of last season, and Beston Jimu, who once played for Blue Eagles and Masters Security. The majority of the players are those who helped the team earn the TNM Super League promotion.
One to watch
Beston Jimu is probably their dangerous man on the field of play. The striker, who was nominated by the Football Association of Malawi for the Discovery of the FDH Bank Cup tournament last season, was the second top goal scorer in the Chipiku Central Region Football League with 33 goals and was only a goal behind Luanar FC’s Innocent Makawano, who won the Golden Boot award after netting 34 goals before he moved to Mafco FC.
Head-to-Head
The two teams have never met before, making this an exciting fixture for all the soccer fanatics.
Current Position
The rookies are 14th in the standings with just a point from the two games they have played so far.
They lost 1-0 to Mighty Tigers in the first match before forcing Civil Service United to a 1-1 draw at Civo Stadium last weekend.
