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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
HE is a gunslinger who has scored half-a-century goals, in just three seasons at a modest Malawian Super League side and, a decade after his compatriot Joseph Kamwendo helped CAPS United become champions, Ishmael Thindwa is here hoping to make the same impression.
The 23-year-old was the dominant forward in the Malawi top-flight league, winning the Golden Boot in 2011, coming second in 2012 and winning the award again last season and, in the process, amassing 51 goals while playing for a club so lightweight it would be a miracle if they win the championship.

Thindwa printed his image all over his club, with his goal-scoring exploits, they even resorted to calling him Mr Epac, which is like calling Pervington Zimunya Mr Shabanie, last year, when the forward’s goals were oiling the Chinda Boys’ machinery.

The Malawian forward has been capped four times by his country and has found the target once but, in the national team colours, he hasn’t delivered what the fans expected and he will be hoping that a change of environment, making the jump into a more competitive league, will help improve his game.

Last weekend, Thindwa was back in Malawi with the CAPS United travelling party for the Zambezi Cup and emerged as the star of the show, proving once again that as long as he is around, he dominates the headlines, as his goals powered the Green Machine to success in the four-team tournament.

He scored CAPS United’s only goal in the 1-1 draw in the semi-final against Silver Bullets, which the Green Machine won in a penalty shoot-out, and the priceless goal that won them the final against Mighty Wanderers.

Thindwa is not the only Malawian in the CAPS United squad.

Gerald “Papa” Phiri (Junior), whose father was a prominent Malawian international footballer, has been here since last year and towards the end of the season started having a bigger role to play at the team after his induction had been disrupted by those trials in Poland before he had settled at the Green Machine.

Defensive midfielder Dalio Tsanzo, who can also play as a defender, was the Epac FC captain and Thindwa’s teammate at the Lilongwe club and the two find themselves at CAPS United hoping not only to make the grade, but leave a lasting impression.

While Tsanzo’s deal is yet to be confirmed, it’s virtually guaranteed that Thindwa will be part of the Green Machine this year after his impressive performance in the Zambezi Cup and the pedigree that he carries as a player who can score goals, his two Golden Boot awards in the last three years providing that testimony.

Epac FC didn’t want to lose Thindwa to any of their local rivals they put a K10 million price tag (about US$25 000) on the rangy forward and, in the domestic transfers of the Malawian Super League, such money rarely exchanges hands among clubs for the acquisition of players.

It’s very likely that CAPS United will pay less for the forward .

“CAPS United seem impressed by them (Thindwa and Tsanzo) but they mentioned the players’ fitness levels were low,” Epac FC secretary-general, Roy Mdechi, told the Nation newspaper.

“As far as the transfer fee, I do not think it will be up to that (K10 million). That figure was mentioned to put off local suitors.

“We do not want to stand in his (Thindwa) way to professional football.” Garry Chirwa, Malawi’s authoritative football writer, said Thindwa would be a perfect signing for CAPS United and, while he doesn’t believe he will make an immediate impact because of the differences in the quality of the two top-flight leagues, he feels he will make his presence felt once he settles.

“He has good height, good built and has predatory instincts, he is good in the air and on the ground and just loves or, should I say, knows to score goals,” Chirwa told The Herald from Blantyre yesterday.

“He has played some few games for the national team here and scored a goal but hasn’t yet made the impression that the fans expected he would make.

“But when you consider that he has been playing for a modest club here, which is not one of the heavyweights, and that he has been consistent in scoring a lot of goals, you can see that he has something in him and he deserves a bigger challenge.

“I’m not sure whether he can quickly make the transition and I think, in the first season, he is likely to struggle a bit as he tries to adjust playing there but once he settles and the nerves are no longer there, he can be a big striker for CAPS United and can help them win trophies.

“He has quality, no doubt about that, and in the short stint that he has been in Zimbabwe, you could see some of the changes that have happened in his game when he played at the weekend here.” Chirwa said he was also impressed by the quality of the CAPS United team that played in Blantyre at the weekend.

“The first match, I think they struggled because of fatigue as they had arrived just a day earlier but they showed their quality by winning against a tough opponent,” said Chirwa.

“In the second game they were a vastly improved side, the played a good passing game, there was a lot of co-ordination in their play and they showed their true qualities.

“They are coming back here to play on March 1 and 2 as they continue with their pre-season preparations and they can only get better as the season progresses.”

Chirwa said Phiri (Jnr) could also make a bigger impact this season now that he appears to have settled at CAPS United.

“He is a good player but I tend to feel that his built betrays him,” said Chirwa. “He was one of the most exciting players here and was about to be drafted into the national team when he decided to come there.

“He could make a bigger impact this year because he must have settled by now.” CAPS United have enjoyed their romance with Malawian international footballers in the past, none better than the one they had with Kamwendo who not only helped them win the league championship but became the first, and only foreign footballer, to win the Soccer Star of the Year here in 2005.