Saturday

Preliminary roundFirst LegAl Salam Wau Vs Rayon Sports

Rwanda’s Peace Cup winner Rayon Sports will be keen to win their CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round first leg match against South Sudan side Al Salam Wau on Saturday at Wau Stadium in Juba.

Head coach Djuma Masudi revealed that he plans to make changes in terms of tactics compared to what he has been using in the local league, and is confident his men have what it takes to win the game before completing the job in the second leg, in Kigali in seven days’ time.

Masudi will be able to field an unlimited number of foreign players, among them midfielders Pierrot Kwizera and Fabrice Kakule Mugheni as well as forwards Shassir Nahimana and Moussa Camara.

The former Burundi international forward said, "It’s going to be a tough game against opponents that we have little information about. We will make some tactical changes, but we are not fazed by the challenge ahead.”

"We are not very familiar with Al Salam Wau but we will go for an away win. We just have to be prepared mentally because physically, we’re more than prepared. The objective is to get into the next round,” noted Masudi.

Rayon Sports delegation left the country to Juba on Friday aboard RwandAir, and if the Blues progress from this round, they will face Onze Creatures of Mali in the first qualification round.

Winners of both the preliminary round and round of 16 will after drawing of lots, be placed into four groups of four teams each. After a round-robin of matches (home and away), the top two teams in each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.

Rayon full squad:

Goalkeepers: Eric ‘Bakame’ Ndayishimiye, Evalist Mutuyimana

Defenders: Thierry Manzi, Ange Mutsinzi, Gabriel Mugabo, Abouba Sibomana, Fiston Munezero, Eric Irambona and Jean D’Amour Nzayisenga.

Midfielders: Pierrot Kwizera, Fabrice Kakule Mugheni, Djabel Manishimwe, Dominique Savio Nshuti, Francois Mugisha and Nova Bayama.

Strikers: Moussa Camara, Shassir Nahimana and Frank Lomami.

Officials: Djuma Masudi (head coach), Maurice Nshimiyimana, Marcel Lomami (assistant coaches), Jean Claude Manirakiza (goalkeepers coach), Charles Mugemana (team doctor) and Olivier Gakwaya (head of delegation).

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