The national football team (Amavubi) has started training under floodlights at Amahoro stadium so as to prepare the team who will play some of the 2021 African Nations Championship (CHAN) matches at night.

The tournament which is meant for only players who play in their home leagues runs from January 16 to February 7, 2021, in Cameroon.

Amavubi’s first match against Uganda on January, 18, 2021 will take place at 9pm, Cameroon time (10pm Kigali time) and coach Vincent Mashami is leaving nothing to chance by preparing the team for any eventuality including having the team train and play friendlies at night.

"We wanted our training base to be as similar as possible to what we will experience in Cameroon and that’s why we train at night and will play friendly matches at night too,” the former APR coach said.

Rwanda is in pool C alongside powerhouse Morocco, Togo, and regional rivals Uganda.

Mashami says a winning start will be key to his side’s bid for a spot in the knockouts of the 6th Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) edition.

After featuring in three past editions, Rwanda has only made it past the group stage once, when the country hosted the tournament in 2016.

Mashami, who was an assistant coach during the 2016 CHAN tournament, will be facing his former boss Johnny McKinstry who was hired to coach the Uganda Cranes in 2019.

Amavubi is expected to travel to Cameroon on January, 11 while their opponent Uganda Cranes are already in Cameroon where they will play some warm up games ahead of the tournament

The National side booked their ticket to the CHAN 2020 finals last October after edging Ethiopia 2-1 on aggregate, thanks to goals from striker Ernest Sugira in either leg of the double-header tie.

Rwanda will be competing in CHAN for the fourth time overall and third in a row.

The event will be hosted by the cities of Yaounde, Douala, and Limbe and will also serve as a warm-up for Cameroon ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations