CAN20008 qualifier

Saturday

Rwanda v Liberia

Eq.Guinea v Cameroon

Build-up

Amavubi Stars 3-1 Marine

Michael Nees is confident about milking a better performance from his squad in the last CAN Ghana2008 group five qualifier against Liberia tomorrow.

The Amavubi Stars head coach expects nothing short of maximum points when his side takes on Liberia’s Lone Stars at Amahoro stadium.

Speaking to Times Sport ahead of the game, the German-born tactician said his team has gone through intensive preparations in the past fortnight.

He however, expressed his reservation about the changing weather, which he says could deter his game plane on Saturday.

"Everything is fine, players are in a high mood after the arrival of the professional players and everybody is eager to give their best on Saturday,” Nees acknowledged.

He prayed, "I hope the weather changes don’t affect our preparations for the game. If the weather remains as it has been in the past two weeks, it would favor us.

Nees also expressed his anger at the decision by the Ferwafa to drop Belgium based midfielder Jimmy Mulisa without his [Nees] knowledge yet he was on the list of professionals summoned for the game.

"I listed Jimmy [Mulisa] on the list of players I summoned but until now he has not appeared.

But may be the federation will let me know more about his absence,” Nees noted sarcastically.

But Ferwafa Sports Commissioner Bonny Nsabimana defended the federation’s decision saying that, "His club wanted to release him on Friday (today) and this would not make any sense to the team that is playing the next day.

But Ramadhan Nkuzingoma, Said Abedi Makasi and Olivier Karekezi are already in camp.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport, Joseph Habineza has urged the Amavubi Stars to bring back a smile on the faces of Rwandans by not only winning tomorrow’s game but also put up a solid performance.

Habineza said, "You (players) have to sacrifice yourselves and create a team spirit within everybody of you and aim to achieving positive results in the Saturday’s game.”

"A win for Amavubi Stars will bring pride to our nation and a loss will deplete the fans’ love for the game,” Habineza said.

The Lone Stars of Liberia arrived in the country on Wednesday and they have been holding training sessions at Amahoro stadium.

Rwanda who lost 2-3 to Liberia in the first leg which was played in Monrovia is set to overturn that goal deficit this weekend.

In a related development, the Amavubi Stars’ team pounced Marine 3-1 in a build-up game played at Gatwaro stadium on Wednesday.

Karekezi scored a brace and Etincelles midfielder Frederick Ndaka added the third. Ismail Bukuru scored for Marine.

Ends