By Chisomo Phiri
Silver Strikers Football Club coach Hendrikus Pieter de Jongh has described the first round of the TNM Super League as challenging in terms of officiation, fixture arrangements and also bad pitches.
De Jongh said this during a press briefing in Lilongwe on Thursday.
He said :”Our opponents get lots of penalties. We only received one penalty but our opponents got 8 out of 9 penalties. We hear yesterday they had another soft penalty.How is that possible and they get freekicks in good places. We also play an offensive, attacking game but we had only a single penalty. That’s surprising. It’s a miracle that we are second on the table, just a point behind FCB Nyasa Bullets.
According to De Jongh, the way fixtures are arranged leaves a lot to be desired because they disadvantage other teams.
“Whatever is said is not personal because I want to improve football. I am a person who always say what I want to say and I express myself respectfully. Yesterday in Mzuzu, Moyale coach called me stupid, but I told him that I have coached in 40 countries and top teams in Africa that have played in Champions League. But he has only coached in Malawi,” he said.
The coach also maintained his stand that Mzuzu Stadium should not be hosting games because it has “a terrible pitch”.
Silver Strikers finished the 2023 TNM Super League first round with a goalless draw against Moyale Barracks at Mzuzu Stadium.
With the result, the bankers moved to position two from three, displacing Chitipa United who moved down to third.
Silver have 29 points from 15 games with eight wins, drawing five and losing two.
On the other hand, Moyale are on position nine from 10 last weeks with 18 points from 15 games.
They won four games, drew six and lost five.
