Gomez happy with Mauritania friendly

THEY MAY have lost the game 1-2 to the visiting Mauritania national football team but Rayon Sports coach Didier Gomez da Rosa was delighted with the overall experience gained from the hastily arranged friendly played on Tuesday at Amahoro national stadium.In what is going to be a busy season, Rayon Sports which is fighting to retain the national football league title, will also play in CAF Champions League, Peace Cup and Cecafa Kagame Cup.For some time now Rayon Sports French coach has maintained that his team needs to play a couple of warm-up matches against continental opposition in preparation for the return to Africa’s biggest club competition next month.After the Mauritania game, Gomes said, “We played well against Mauritania, I am happy with the performance; but most importantly we learned a lot of things from this game because we played with a team preparing for CHAN finals, so they were taking this game very seriously.” “This was good game for us as we are preparing for a continental competition, but we need to secure more such games, which will help us to get even stronger ahead of all the competitions ahead,” he noted.“We are doing well in the league, which is good for our confidence as we prepare for the AC Leopards matches, but we need to continue to be consistent in the league.”It was the first international warm-up game for Gomes’ team as they prepare for the 2014 Orange CAF Champions League campaign. Rayon will begin their continental campaign in the second week of February – against the Republic of Congo’s AC Leopards in the preliminary round and the return leg will be played in Kigali a week later.The reigning Rwandan league champions lost to visitors Mauritania national team in a friendly match played on New Year’s Eve at Amahoro stadium. Fan Yacoub and Taky Mohamed scored for the visitors, while Amissi Cedric netted the consolation goal.Rayon Sports lead the local league halfway stage in the season.