Rwanda’s national team Amavubi ended their friendly games on high after coming out with comfortable wins against Central African Republic 2-0 on Friday, June 4, and 5-0 on Monday, June 7, at Amahoro National Stadium.
The recent results, which saw every player given a chance to play, brought a smile back to Rwandans who have always been frustrated with the national team’s performance which last earned a qualification to the Africa Cup of Nations in 2004.
Times Sport looks at the lessons learned from Amavubi’s recent international friendlies with the Central African Republic.
No one is guaranteed a place in Amavubi
While it was the very first call up for some players, national team head Vincent Mashami’s much-changed squad came as a surprise to many senior players who found themselves dropped.
A squad without the likes of goalkeepers Olivier Kwizera and Yves Kimenyi, midfielder Haruna Nyinzoma and striker Ernest Sugira, who missed out on a call up for CAR friendlies due to poor performances in their respective clubs, came as a wake-up call that any player is droppable and can only earn a place in the national team if they only work for it.
"No player has a permanent position in the national team, and often when we talk to them I say they don’t have a contract in the national team, which is why they have to give everything to their teams to earn a place in the national team,” Mashami warned, after announcing the squad last week.
CAR team performed below par
Many football fans and pundits are wondering whether Mashami’s recent two victories against CAR were down to the improvement made by the Wasps or if they were playing a mediocre side.
But it was also evident that the visitors lacked aggressiveness and pace on the pitch.
The last two defeats mean CAR have only won once in the last 15 outings, a feat that proves that Mashami shouldn’t be celebrating that his boys beat a tough side.
He can instead seek more friendlies against tougher sides if he is given a chance to get another friendly game before the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Time for a new generation
Plenty of new faces made it in Mashami’s squad as they made their debuts in the national team during the last two friendlies with CAR.
Goalkeeper Clément Buhake Twizere of Strommen IF in Norway and SC Lyon defender in France, Bryan Clovis Ngwabije, and defender Dennis Rukundo who plays for Uganda Premier League side Police FC as well as Gueulette Samuel who plies his trade in Belgian club RAAL La Louvière.
Other players who earned their first international call up included AS Kigali defender Christian Ishimwe, midfielder Blaise Nishimwe and defender Clément Niyigena (both Rayon Sports), APR FC striker Yves Mugunga and Bugesera FC striker Alain Kwitonda as well as Marines shot stopper Fiacre Ntwari.
The majority of these players are young and still have about a decade to give their service to the national team, meaning that Mashami has started to put trust in the new generation and build a new project around them ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers slated in September.