Rwandan soccer legend Jimmy Gatete is "so excited to return home” nearly a decade after he retired.

The 38-year-old arrived in Kigali on Monday, October 10. He is among several other football legends who will grace the official launch of the Legends in Rwanda event gala scheduled for October 12-14.

"I am beyond excited [to be back]. I missed Rwandans and the country,” Gatete told journalists upon arrival at Kigali International Airport.

Gatete, a former player for Rayon Sports, APR FC, Mukura Victory Sport and Ethiopian side St Georges, retired from international football in 2013 and ventured into business.

The veteran, who currently lives in the United States with his wife and their two children, has not been involved in any activities associated with football, a sport in which he has fond memories of especially with the national football team, Amavubi, for which he scored 25 goals in 42 appearances.

He is especially remembered for the winning goal he scored against Ghana to give Rwanda the first and lone qualification to a big continental tournament, the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.

Besides Gatete, Senegalese football legend Halilou Fadiga was the first to arrive in the country ahead of the event.

Cameroonian icon Patrick Mboma also arrived on Tuesday, October 11.

Other football legends expected to join the trio ahead of the gala include French World Cup winner Lilian Thuram, Ghana’s former player and now football business manager Anthony Baffoe, Cameroon’s Roger Milla as well as Laura Georges, a former French football player for France Women and now Secretary General of the French Football Federation (FFF).