THE national U-17 football coach Richard Tardy returns this Wednesday after a three-week scouting mission in Europe.

According to the vice president of the national football federation (Ferwafa) Raoul Gisanura, the Frenchman has been in France and Belgium, assessing players who can further strengthen the team ahead of this year’s Fifa U-17 World Cup in Mexico.

The junior wasps qualified for the World Cup after reaching the semi-finals of the 2011 Caf U-17 Africa Nations Championship held in Rwanda.

Although Gisanura declined to go into details about the players in question, he revealed that several players had shown interest in playing for Rwanda.

"In the build-up to last month’s U-17 African championship, we had a difficult time identifying players and persuading them to play for their country but ever since our World Cup qualification, we have received several requests,” the official revealed.

Tardy is also expected to sign a new deal before the end of March.  The tactician’s contract expires at the end of this month and Ferwafa have made it clear that renewing his contract is top on their agenda.

Ferwafa boss Brig. Gen. Jean Bosco Kazura recently said; "It’s always good to maintain a winning team. He has been fantastic and we would like him to stay on as head coach.”

"We are going to hold talks with him about a new contract and I’m positive that we shall reach an agreement,” the official added.

The youngsters are expected to regroup early next month for the global show piece which is scheduled to run from June 18-July 20.

The team will camp in Rwanda before relocating to Europe.
It is the first time in history that a Rwandan team is taking part in a Fifa World Cup.

Burkina Faso, Congo Brazzaville and Ivory Coast will be Africa’s other representatives in Mexico.

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