Moments after winning the second division title, Bugesera FC head coach Noah Nsanziyinka reiterated his desire to sign a new contract with the club as he continues to take forward the Eastern Province-based outfit in the uncharted waters next season.
Moments after winning the second division title, Bugesera FC head coach Noah Nsanziyinka reiterated his desire to sign a new contract with the club as he continues to take forward the Eastern Province-based outfit in the uncharted waters next season.
Nsanziyinka, whose contract ended with the just concluded season, pledged that he is ready to negotiate his continued stay at the club. Bugesera defeated Eastern Province archrivals Rwamagana FC 2-0 in the second division league final on Saturday at Kicukiro stadium.
David Nzabanita and Felix Ngabo scored the goals for Nsanziyinka’s team in the 20th and 75th minutes, respectively.
Both teams had already earned promotion to the top flight division league for the 2015/16 campaign to take the places of Etincelles and Isonga FC, who went down at the end of the just concluded season.
"I have proved myself that I can manage a club and win trophies, I want to transform this team (Bugesera) into a winning team in the first division,” said a visibly excited Nsanziyinka.
He added that he is delighted to have won the trophy with a youthful team which many looked at as underdogs compared to most of their rivals because the majority of his players are young and lacked experience.
Asked about his ambition in case he is offered a new contract with the club, Nsanziyinka said that the priority target would be restructuring and strengthening the club ahead of beginning life in the first division "where things can be very unpredictable especially for newly promoted teams.”
He said, "I have a squad of 23 players, but half of that are not capable enough to play in the first division and I think we will need to strengthen it with better and more experienced players.”
He said they would need to sign an experienced goalkeeper, two defenders, two midfielders and two strikers.
In a separate interview with the Times Sport, Rwamagana FC head trainer, Francois Kalisa, congratulated Bugesera FC upon their win and admitted his team didn’t quite play as well as they are capable of.
"We can be happy with what we have achieved this season and now we take a break before starting to plan for life in the first division,” said explained Kalisa.
The promotion of Bugesera FC and Rwamagana to the first division means the Eastern Province will, for the first time in the history of Rwanda football, have three teams in the National Football League, joining Sunrise FC, who were promoted last season and went on to finish in fourth place in their debut season.