The head of former Amavubi players Association Eugene Murangwa says the national football federation (Ferwafa) needs to draw up a master plan for the national team to qualify for the Africa cup of nations.

Murangwa maintains that qualification to the AFCON does not come on a silver platter as serious work must go into it.

The Amavubi are hoping to end nearly two decades of failing to qualify for another AFCON but Murangwa who is a former player of the national team is adamant that things must not be done as before, adding that proper preparations and execution over a period of time is key.

The Rwanda national team shocked the whole of Africa by seeing off four-time champions Ghana to qualify for the 2004 AFCON in Tunisia in one of the most intriguing qualification campaigns in the history of the tournament.

Prior to that enviable feat, little was known about the Amavubi at continental level. A lot has happened in Rwandan football over the years but the Amavubi are yet to make it to Africa's biggest soccer fiesta again.

The next edition of the AFCON will be held in Ivory next year and Rwanda are hoping to qualify for the tournament.

Ferwafa are leaving no stone unturned to achieve this feat and the first step was to part ways with head coach Vincent Mashami last week following the expiration of his contract.

As the search continues, former Rayon Sports and Amavubi goalkeeper Eric Eugene Murangwa believes that although football defies logic, it will not be easy for Rwanda to immediately qualify for the next AFCON as there must be a set out plan which could take three to five years for the team to reach that level.

"That's a tough call and a bit wishful to be honest! You can't realistically aim to qualify for a major tournament like AFCON in just one year with all the problems that we know our football has. If we are serious about achieving anything then we should strive to put together a special plan that will allow us to qualify for Afcon in 3 to 5 years minimum. Anything else would be just a dream or unrealistic strategy." Murangwa told Times Sport in an interview.

The 46-year-old who is based in the UK further indicated that one essential thing for Rwanda to do in their quest to build a winning team is to invest in youth football especially young Rwandans in Europe and elsewhere as it can help speed up the process. 

"One other thing that we can do to possibly speed up the process of building a strong national team is to invest more in many young Rwandans who are currently playing or learning how to play football in different parts of the world, particularly in Europe. If we can have a proper strategy with a focus on these young people perhaps there's a chance to have a much able national team to compete with the best,”

"However, for that to work, we'll obviously need a well-functioning Ferwafa and a well experienced Amavubi management team. I have faith in the current leadership of Ferwafa to do things differently but it will need a different approach altogether if we are to achieve anything decent,” he added.