very fast, thinking fast, acting fast and moving fast, being well prepared and organised." Group B (Guinea, Zimbabwe, Senegal) Ahead of their first Group B game against Guinea, Malawi were hit hard by positive Covid tests in the camp. On 9 January, six players and three technical staff including Marinica tested positive. In addition, key players Mark Fodya and Charles Petro had remained in Saudi Arabia having tested positive there. Due to the Covid outbreak, Malawi were only able to name a matchday squad of 15 for the match against Guinea, with just two outfield players on the bench. Meck Mwase lead the team from the bench with Marinica in isolation. Issiaga Sylla scored the only goal to help Guinea to a narrow 1–0 victory. The Syli National had to dig deep against the brilliant Flames who were competitive throughout the contest at the Stade de Kouekong in Baffousam. Depleted Malawi were left to rue missed opportunities - they had the lion's share of the chances and found Guinea goalkeeper Aly Keita in inspired form. On 10 January, FAM announced that it had recalled the five players that were on the reserve list to join the team in Cameroon with Gerald Phiri Jr. convinced to rescind his retirement. Initially CAF had indicated that only 23 players in the final squad will be eligible to take part in the competition while the other extra five, that were registered at the discretion of participating teams, will be on reserve and would only be replaced in case of serious injury. CAF specified that the injury had to be certified through MRI Scan by the CAF Medical Committee and COVID-19 was not regarded as a serious injury. With increased cases of COVID-19 being experienced across the participating teams, the rule was relaxed. As per the CAF 2021 AFCON pre-match protocols the Flames players and officials underwent a COVID-19 PCR test, 48 hours before the team's second group B match against Zimbabwe. All the 28 players tested negative, though unfortunately Mario Marinica continued to test positive and remained in isolation for the fixture. Once again first assistant coach, Meck Mwase lead from the bench. In an open and entertaining game, Zimbabwe went ahead through a superb header from Ishmael Wadi but Gabadinho Mhango equalised five minutes later with a controlled half-volley. Mhango then added his second after 58 minutes as he took advantage of some