The national U-23 team faces an arduous task on Tuesday at the Huye Stadium as they seek to overturn a 4-1 defeat against Libya in order to qualify for the second round of the U-23 AFCON preliminary stages.
The junior Amavubi were thrashed by the North Africans despite having the Lion’s share of possession earlier on in the game on Friday and they now have to go all out and get the needed results at home to sail through.
Times Sport takes a look at four things the Rwanda U-23 team can do to get the required score line to qualify to the next round.
Early goal
The U-23 team need to score as early as possible to unsettle the visitors. A goal within the first ten minutes of the encounter will see the Libyans chasing the game.
With that, there will be spaces at the back which the likes of Moise Nyarugabo can exploit to great effect.
Play as a collective unit
Individualistic type of play should not be entertained on Tuesday. All the players must join forces and play as a team.
When this is done, the tendency to break the Libyans becomes easy as there will be no selfishness.
Avoid mistakes at the back
Two of the goals the U-23 conceded on Friday were virtually gifted to the Libyans. It was through costly mistakes which resulted in those goals
The back four should be well composed and also have full concentration. Libya have very pacy attackers and any error at the back will make them capitalize on it.
Play through the midfield
In the first leg, Rwanda dominated the early minutes because they forced the Libyans to play through the middle which they struggled to do.
After the howler in the 19th minute which resulted in the penalty for the Libyans to score their first goal, Rwanda gave the North Africans freedom to use the wings and they utilized it to great effect.
The Rwandan U-23 technical team should make sure that from the start of the game to the end the Libyans do not have a chance to operate from the flanks which is their strongest hold.