AFTER sacking Branko Tucak, Eric Nshimiyimana has been tasked to manage Rwanda’s senior national football team ‘Amavubi Stars’ at the Orange Cecafa Challenge Cup which kicks off this Sunday in Kenya.

The Croat was unsurprisingly sacked by the local football governing body, Ferwafa after Rwanda’s disastrous campaign in the 2010 Africa Nations Cup qualifiers.

To qualify for next year’s event, Rwanda needed to win Zambia’s Chipolopolo by a 2-0 margin. They went in favorites, as the game was at Amahoro but were frustratingly held to a goalless draw, missing out on a ticket to Angola.

Nshimiyimana, who was part of the Amavubi team that qualified Rwanda to their first and only Nations Cup finals in 2004, will be assisted by Atraco’s assistant coach Emmanuel Ruremesha.

Nshimiyimana, who is also the head coach of AS Kigali has been Tucak’s assistant.

After failing to qualify for next year’s CAN in Angola, Amavubi players know that the fans deserve more from the team during the two-week tournament.

Rwanda has won the regional title once in 1999 when Rwanda fielded two teams at home soil, Rwanda A and Rwanda B, and it was the later that triumphed after beating Kenya 3-1 in the final game.

This year, Amavubi are drawn in Group B alongside Somalia, Eritrea and Cosafa champions Zimbabwe.

Ends