CHAN

Saturday

Second leg

Rwanda v Sudan

Sudan national football team arrives in the country today ahead of the second leg of the Africa Nations Championship against Rwanda on Saturday at Nyamirambo stadium.

The Desert Hawks, who thumped Amavubi Stars 4-0 in the first leg in Khartoum a fortnight ago land at Kigali International airport afternoon aboard Ethiopian Airways.

Players like Faisal Agab, Richard Gastin, Haitham Mustafa, Haitham Tumbal, and Al Moez Mahgoub are part of the squad that only needs a draw to progress to the next stage.

The Sudanese players are very physical and depend on their pace and stamina in settling games as was proved in the first leg.

Faisal Agab is the inspiration of the Sudanese national team with his goal scoring and dribbling skills. He is also Sudan’s all time top scorer in African competitions.

Meanwhile, efforts to get the final Amavubi Stars squad for Saturday’s game were futile as it had not been put out in the open by press time press time.

The squad was expected to be named after the training game between the Ferwafa select and the media select teams, which was played last evening at Nyamirambo stadium.

Blanko Tucak dismantled the team that was beaten 4-0 in Khartoum, bringing in several new faces, among them Cameroonian born and APR skipper Boubakary Sadou.

The Wasps face an uphill task in their bid to qualify for the second round of the inaugural African Nations’ Championship whose finals will be hosted staged in Ivory Coast next year.

Inept tactics and poor organization were the major cause for Rwanda’s humiliating loss to the Desert Hawks who looked composed and determined.

The results in Khartoum mean that Sudan will be favourites to qualify on the Rwanda’s expense unless Tucak can cause an unlikely upset and beat the visitors 5-0.

Whoever qualifies to the second round between Rwanda and Sudan will meet the winner of Uganda and Tanzanian. Tanzania leads 2-0 from the first leg with the return leg on this weekend in Kampala.

The second leg matches are scheduled for May 16-18, where the finals in Cote d’Ivoire run from February 22 to March 8, next year.

Ends