Spanish tactician Alos Ferrer on Tuesday, August 8, announced he is leaving his role as Rwanda coach as he embarks on what he called a ‘new project’ as new head coach of Belarus national team.
It is 16 months since the tactician took charge of Amavubi on March 22, 2022, replacing Vincent Mashami.
He extended his stay at the hot seat in March in a two-year deal that would keep him at the helm until March 2025 but his poor run of results at the AFCON 2023 qualifiers didn’t go down well with his employers.
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Ferrer&039;s output is not different from his predecessor Mashami, but rather worse, having failed to get the needed results during his 16 months in charge of the team.
Under the gaffer, Rwanda played 12 games, winning one match, drawing five and losing six.
Of the 12 matches, seven were competitive matches from which the country only managed three draws and four defeats.
His first test was against Mozambique where the pair played out a 1-1 draw in a 2023 AFCON qualifier held in South Africa on June 2, 2022.
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His second game was a difficult away encounter against African champions Senegal in Dakar on June 7, 2022. Amavubi put up arguably their best performance in over a year but succumbed to a defeat through a Sadio Mane 97th minute penalty. That performance ignited the hopes of many Rwandans that Ferrer was the right man to save Amavubi.
On August 26, 2021 in a CHAN qualifier, Rwanda played a goalless draw with Ethiopia in Tanzania as the Walia Ibex had adopted the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium as their home ground.
With these results, Rwanda were home and dry to win at Huye and qualify for the tournament in Morocco. However, they lost 1-0 in front of their home fans on September 3 thereby failing to secure the qualification ticket.
Rwanda traveled to hold Benin to a 1-1 draw in Cotonou on March 22 in an AFCON qualifier.
The return fixture in Kigali on March 29 ended 1-1 but CAF awarded 3 points and three goals to the Cheetahs after Amavubi were found guilty of fielding Kevin Muhire who was not eligible to play the match, having accumulated two yellow cards.
Ferrer's final game was against Mozambique at Huye Stadium on June 18. The game effectively ended Rwanda's hopes of making it to the next AFCON, following a 2-0 defeat to the Mambas.
Meanwhile, out of five friendly games played under Ferrer, Rwanda only managed one win, a 1-0 over Sudan in Kigali on November 19, 2022. Ivorian Gerard Gohou, a striker who was naturalized to play on a Rwandan passport, scored the solitary goal.
Rwanda also struggled in front of goal during Ferrer’s tenure where his side scored four goals and conceded nine. Only Blaise Nishimwe, Gilbert Mugisha, Gerrard Gohou and Thierry Manzi found the back of the net in the process.
Ferrer’s statistics in Amavubi
Name: Carlos Alos Ferrer
Born: July 21, 1975
Place of birth: Tortosa, Spain
Games coached: 12
Won: 1
Drawn: 5
Lost: 6
Goals scored: 4
Goal conceded: 9