APR players have admitted that there is a big room for improvement concerning their ‘below par’ performance which has left their coach Thierry Froger unimpressed.
This comes after Froger issued a verdict on his squad that its quality is not good enough for big competitions of CAF Champions League’s caliber.
The Frenchman’s criticism came after his side was held to a 2-2 draw by 10-man AS Kigali in the Primus National League held at Kigali Pele Stadium on Monday April 15.
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APR has a chance to play in the Champions League next season as they need one point to win the league title for the 22nd time. However, Froger is concerned he can’t promise to achieve big thinks with the current squad if he is given a chance to keep his role as head coach next season.
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His comments were so alarming that some senior players like Sharaf Eldin Shaiboub Ali and skipper Claude Niyomugabo admit they need to up their game in order to perform well in the continental competition.
"We want to do better in the international tournaments, we will achieve this by improving our performance. It is journey, we have to prepare our mindset and altitude so that we can improve,” said Shaiboub.
With the title within reach, a draw with SC Kiyovu on Saturday, April 20, will be enough for Froger’s side to lift the title but Ruboneka insists APR deserves more than that: showing top performance at continental level.
"It is very important that we start to think beyond our local league and approach CAF Champions League and we must start now by playing better football because we are professional players, obviously we will also need to step up our game in some aspects,” Ruboneka said.
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The army side seems to have run away with the league title and they could go unbeaten again and repeat what they did in the 2019/20 season when they lifted the title after just 23 games from which they won 17 and drew six.
But the team has failed to translate its domestic dominance to Africa, having failed to make it to the group stages of either the CAF Champions League or Confederation Cup. Only Rayon Sports managed to reach the group stages during the 2017/18 season.
But, if players show commitment to improve, nothing is impossible according to club captain Niyomugabo.
""We have to go back to the drawing board and plan how to build on this success so that the club can win more trophies in the years to come but we need to improve our level as we are planning to play in the champions league,” he said.
A draw against Kiyovu SC on Saturday, April 20, will be enough for APR FC to be crowned champions of Rwanda for the fifth time in a row and for the 22nd time overall.