African Nation Championship
March 12-14, 2010
Rwanda vs Eritrea

DAYS after guiding Rwanda to the final of the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, Amavubi interim coach Eric Nshimiyimana wants to maintain the same squad for the 2011 African Nation Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.

Nshimiyimana told Times Sport yesterday that his youthful team has gained experience in the two-week long competition despite losing 2-0 to Uganda Cranes in the final.

"The Cecafa Challenge Cup is over and I believe the same squad should be maintained for the qualifiers of the African Nation Championship.

"We will follow up these players in their respective clubs so as to assess their form before regrouping for the upcoming qualifiers,’ Nshimiyimana said.

The former Amavubi midfielder noted that he plans to add a few faces to the current squad. The players in line for call up include Mbuyu Twite, Abbas Rassou and Emmanuel Sebanani aka Crespo.

Rwanda will play Eritrea in the first qualifier of the 2011 African Nation Championship. The tournament, which will be played in Sudan, runs from January 21 to February 10.

With the central zone allotted two qualifying spots; Rwanda will have to wrestle Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia, Tanzania and Eritrea for one of the slots.

CHAN is a Caf competition played by home-based players. The preliminary round will take place in November and December and feature the likes of Sierra Leone, Mauritania and Djibouti and Somalia.

Rwanda will be seeking to qualify for next year’s edition after missing out on last year’s edition following 4-0 loss to Sudan. The Amavubi Stars will play away in the first leg (March 12-14) before hosting the Eritreans two weeks later (March 26-28).

The winner over the two-leg tie will face either Tanzania or the winner between Somalia and Djibouti. Somalia and Djibouti will play a two-legged match preliminary match before the end of this year to decide on who plays Tanzania in the second round.

Caf has increased the number of participating teams to 16 from eight that took part in the inaugural event. Sudan qualified automatically as hosts.

Ends