The advantage of having a domestic football season calendar scripted unconventionally from March to December, is that it reaches its crescendo when the rest of the football world is suffering from boredom.
While fans and footballers across the world are turning to beaches dotted across the world in search of action, Malawi's domestic football season reaches its climax on Saturday.
The 2023 season comes to life with a Blantyre derby between FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers at dilapidated Kamuzu Stadium in the commercial capital.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Blantyre derby is the ultimate answer to Malawi’s football question of Soweto derby of South Africa, Egypt’s Cairo derby or Kariako derby in Tanzania.
For starters, this might seem like your everyday TNM Super League first-round game on the pitch, but off it is a much more complicated concoction of pride, music, dance, fashion, fanaticism and sheer madness.
Expect the eastern terraces to turn into a sea of red. On this day, Bullets fans go for anything scarlet, including US flags. Other male fans dress like pregnant women or like they are celebrating Valentine’s Day while dancing to the endless beating of drums.
CACOPHONY OF SONGS AND DANCE
Creativity in songs is plenty. The lyrics for Bullets fans’ songs taunting Wanderers go like: Ana ang’ono/ Kumachita matama [Small boys/ You are nothing/ Just small pompous chaps].
Wanderers occupy the Southern terraces painting it all blue. In reply to Bullets’ taunts, Wanderers supporters sing like this: Akudalira mapenate Mawule/ Nanga ntani ine eeee! Nangantani ine?/ Ndingolowelela [Bullets bank on cheap goals from penalties/ What else do I do? Let me just go berserk].
The fans can go to the extremes invading the pitch at the end of a match to give their preferred player a man-of-the match award of a live chicken.
Some carry on their shoulders car batteries connected to flash lights and sirens.
There is simply no love lost between the 16-time champions Bullets and their seven-time cousins Wanderers; teams whose rivalry stretches back to the 1960s when a splinter group of Wanderers players relocated to Bullets thereby fueling the rivalry.
FORM BOOK
Wanderers or the Nomads, who are styled around Porto FC of Portugal, are after a flying start to the season under English coach Mark Harrison, now lurching from one crisis to another.
The axes are out at the Lali Lubani Road where hope of ending Bullets' monopoly of the league titles is fading like the traditional blue, which is rare these days. For some strange reason, Wanderers players are stuck in orange even for home games.
The Nomads lie third with 18 points from 10 league games, three and six points behind Bullets and the only unbeaten side on the 16-member log table, Silver Strikers.
A home 1-0 loss to unfancied Chitipa United for Wanderers was followed by a 2-1 win over Karonga United on the road two weeks ago, only for the wheels to come off again. A 1-0 defeat at the hands of Extreme FC then a home one-all draw with Dedza Dynamos last weekend has plunged Wanderers into familiar problems.
WANDERERS SUPPORTERS IRKED
Fans bayed for the blood of Wanderers players after the loss to Extreme prompting skipper Stanley Sanudi to kneel literally begging for mercy.
However, last weekend's home draw with Dedza meant that Sanudi had exhausted his peace-making tricks. Harrison has since admitted that he fears for his security and that of his players.
The supporters have for some time been complaining about the team’s' too- many backwards passes’ and even fielding.
One Wanderers fan hoisted a banner questioning the rationale of turning winger Wisdom Mpinganjira into a left-back: Wisdom Mpinganjira is not a left-back, play him as a winger.
If Wanderers are to come out unscathed from Kamuzu Stadium on Saturday they need Mpinganjira’s versatility, Sanudi’s leadership and Christopher Kumwembe’s goal scoring fluency.
PASUWA’S FOUR LEAGUE TITLES WITH BULLETS
Bullets go into derby not at their fluent best. They drew 0-0 with Kamuzu Barracks in their last league match last week coming after a 4-1 rout of Ekwendeni Hammers. The victory over Hammers provided Bullets solace from the 1-0 loss they suffered to naughty Chitipa weeks ago.
However, Zimbabwean coach Kalisto Pasuwa is not panicking yet he knows how to navigate his side to the winners’ podium.
Pasuwa has a young squad with pace and intelligent moves on and off the ball epitomized by the precision of Lanjesi Nkhoma upfront, Alick Lungu at left-back and Patrick Mwaungulu’s creativity. Injured play-maker Mike Mkwate will be a big miss for Bullets.
Bullets have won four consecutive league titles under Pasuwa making it eight personally on the spin for him extending to the four-back-to-back titles he won with Dynamos in Harare before he joined the Malawi champions in 2018.
This is the 74th derby between Bullets and Wanderers since the league’s birth in 1986.
There is no doubt that Bullets have won the most derbies, but nothing is guaranteed on Saturday even when Wanderers appear in crisis. This game could define the season.
Officiating team:
Referee: Mwayi Msungama
Assistant Referees: Happiness Mbandambanda, Mussa Grant
Fourth Official:Mayamiko Kanjere