Croat says he’s to blame for home draw

2010 WC/CAN qualifiers

Group Three

Team        P          W        D          L          Pts
Zambia     1           0        1          0             1
Egypt        1           0        1          0             1
Algeria      1           0        1          0             1
Rwanda    1           0        1          0             1

Amavubi Stars head coach Branko Tucak has admitted that he and not the players, is to blame for Rwanda’s home goalless draw with Algeria last weekend.

Tucak’s team approached the 2010 World/African Cup second round opening group three fixtures negatively and paid the price for not trying hard to find the net.

But the Croat is still optimistic Amavubi’s chances of reaching the Africa Nations Cup in Angola at worst despite the goalless draw against Algeria, a result that later turned out to be not so bad given Zambia’s shock 1-1 draw in Cairo against the African champions, Egypt.

"Blame the draw on me and not the players. I’m responsible for the performance in that game.

"We lost confidence and wasted many chances especially in the second half but the players did their best to win the game,” Tucak admitted. The draw threw the group wide open as all teams are tied on one point from the one game played so far.

The results left the teams with one point each ahead of the next games in June when Algeria host Egypt and Zambia host Rwanda in Lusaka.

For Rwanda to qualify for the Africa Nations’ Cup, it will be required to win the remaining home fixtures against Zambia and Egypt and force draws in all their away games.

Rwanda’s next qualifier will be played on June 6 against Zambia as Algeria and Egypt face off in a North African battle on June 7 in Algiers.

The top team in the group will qualify for the World Cup in South Africa next year while the three best finishers make it for the African finals in Luanda, Angola in January.

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