Saturday - Quarter-finalsRwanda vs DR Congo 3pm (Amahoro Stadium)Cameroon vs Côte d'Ivoire 6pm (Huye Stadium)

SundayTunisia vs Mali 3pm (Kigali Regional Stadium)Zambia vs Guinea 6pm (Umuganda Stadium)

It’s D-Day, a historic date in Rwandan football as Rwanda face DR Congo in the first quarter-final of the 4th Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) on Saturday afternoon at Amahoro National Stadium, kick-off at 3pm.

After the group stages, eight teams made it to quarter-finals and other eight were eliminated, including giants such as Nigeria (Group C) and Morocco (Group A), teams that were considered among favourites for the title. 

But as they say, boys have been separated from men, now it’s time for serious business.

Apart from the Rwanda vs DR Congo clash, the second quarter-final pits West African neighbours and archrivals Ivory Coast and Cameroon at Huye stadium, starting at 6pm. 

On Sunday, Tunisia will be up against Mali at Kigali regional stadium at 3pm while Zambia will square-off against Guinea (Conakry) at Umuganda stadium in Ruvabu district, kick-off at 6pm.

But, focus will be on the regional derby pitting Amavubi (Wasps) against The Leopards; which Rwanda’s coach Johnny McKinstry regarded as the game of the tournament, others are calling it a final before the final.

There are a lot of lenses through which you can visualize the game, squads, head-to-head history, FIFA rankings, current form, history in CHAN and many others but today, Saturday Sport takes a closer look at the profiles of the two opposing coaches.

Despite being, 24 years younger than his Congolese counterpart, Rwanda’s McKinstry boasts of vast r experience than DR Congo’s Jean-Florent Ikwanga Ibenge but that will only be heightened by the outcome of Saturday’s clash. McKinstry already holds the edge over Ibenge 1-0.

Jean-Florent Ibenge

Ibenge was born on December 4, 1961 in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa); the Democratic Republic of Congo but grew up in France. During his playing days, he played in the lower divisions in Belgium, France and Germany till his retirement in mid 1990s.

After hanging up his playing boots, he ventured into coaching but kept a low profile, working with youth football and academies until April 2012 when he was appointed interim coach of Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua, but lasted only two months.

Shanghai Shenhua, has signed some high profile names, among them Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Nicolas Anelka (France) and Tim Cahill (Australia). 

At the Chinese football club, Ibenge was replaced by Argentina legend and 1986 FIFA World Cup winner Daniel Batista, who led Argentina to gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

In February 2014, the 54-year old Ibenge was hired by Congolese giants AS Vita Club and helped the club to reach semi-finals of CAF Champions League, at the time he was also assistant coach of the Congolese national team, working under Claude Le Roy until he was named team head coach in August.

After taking over as head coach, he proved his worth by helping DRC qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals held in Equatorial Guinea where they finished third. The tournament was won by Ivory Coast after edging Ghana 9-8 on penalties following a goalless draw in 120 minutes.

Johnny McKinstry

McKinstry doesn’t need introduction as he is one of the most talked about names at CHAN 2016 finals tournament, especially after leading Amavubi to finish top of Group A that also included Morocco, Gabon and Ivory Coast.

Born to Billy McKinstry and Pamela McKinstry on July 16, 1986 in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Johnny McKinstry is the last born child from a family of four—three boys and one girl.

McKinstry, 30, was not born from a footballing family; in-fact he is the only person from his family to pursue the world’s most popular sport. 

He is from a motorsport background, and his father Billy, is a famous name in Northern Ireland, there is even a race named after him ‘Billy McKinstry Road Racing Stalwart’ because of his involvement and contribution to motorsport in the country for over 53 years.

Coach of Rwanda since March 2015, McKinstry is highly qualified with vast experience of coaching in Africa, Europe and America. 

He has dedicated his life to football, starting a coaching career before his 16th birthday—this is his 15th year in the game since his first (coaching) job back in his home town with Lisburn Distillery FC.

McKinstry was introduced to football by his uncle, who was a football coach at community level and although he was a talented kid during his brief playing period, he instead chose coaching over playing because football in N. Ireland is semi-professional and he was convinced he was not at the level of playing in English Premier League or other top European leagues.

"During my playing days, I was good at it, my coaches admired me. However, I could not see my future in semi-professional Irish football and I was always passionate in training younger kids despite my tender age, coaches saw my passion and advised me to start coaching courses,” McKinstry recalls.

"I could play with my team and after I would go to coach other kids, I was a coach-player for quite a while before I decided to focus on coaching,” he told Saturday Sport in an exclusive interview.

At the age of 18, McKinstry obtained his UEFA B license and landed his UEFA A license barely at 22, both among the youngest coaches to ever do so in history. Currently, he is a candidate for UEFA Pro License with the Irish FA.

McKinstry also holds an Academy Managers’ Licence (English FA) and Premier Diploma (NSCAA) as well as a range of other academic and professional qualifications. 

He has been named as ‘UK Grassroots Coach of the Year’ in 2006 by Manchester United FC for his work within the football industry and was recognized nationally in the field of ‘Outstanding Team Motivation’ for his role in developing and preparing athletes for competition. 

McKinstry rose from rank to rank ever since he joined the game. Prior to joining Amavubi, he was head coach of Sierra Leone national team from April 2013 to September 2014 and was the youngest active head coach in international football (at only 27 years of age) at the time.

Within 16 months, McKinstry led Sierra Leone to their highest ever FIFA World ranking, 7th in Africa and 50th globally respectively, both above their lowest ever of 172nd and the achievement was hailed as a ‘remarkable feat’ by the World football governing body, FIFA.

From January 2010 to Dec 2014, he set up and developed the Craig Bellamy Elite Soccer Academy in Sierra Leone, placing elite young players in Europe, Asia and North America. Previously, he had worked in Ghana, USA (New York Red Bulls), Ireland and England, all in youth football and football academies.

Time with Amavubi

The soft-spoken McKinstry joined Amavubi in March 2015, replacing Stephen Constantine, who had resigned to take up the Indian national team coach job. 

Three months after taking over, he led Rwanda to their first competitive away victory in 4 years, defeating Mozambique 1-0 in Maputo in Group H of AFCON 2017 qualifiers, thanks to Ernest Sugira’s lone goal.

Nine months after, he guided Amavubi to the final of the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup last month in Ethiopia and was named ‘Coach of the tournament’. From CECAFA, Amavubi held Cameroon to a 1-all draw and stunned DR Congo 1-0 at Umuganda stadium in a friendly before CHAN kick off.

Despite a poor run of results from July to November, 2015 that saw Rwanda on a 7-game losing-streak and spinning rumors that he was going to be sacked, McKinstry managed to turn things around and here he is today, probably the happiest man on earth at the moment.

Speaking to Saturday Sport on Thursday, McKinstry said his men are ready; "Players and staff are going to do everything possible to get the result we all want.”

Regardless of how far hosts Rwanda go in Africa’s second biggest international tournament, focus will shift to AFCON qualifiers as they bid to qualify for the continent’s most prestigious football event for a second time after debuting at the 2004 finals in Tunisia.

Standings second on 3 points in group H, Rwanda will face Mauritius (home and away) in March and Mozambique in the return-leg clash in Kigali in June.

Group H also includes Ghana that tops the standing with maximum 6 points after two games, while third-placed Mauritius have three points and bottom side Mozambique are without a point.

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