Amavubi Stars to start away to Nigeria

Group A fixtures Sep. 5-6 Nigeria vs Rwanda Sudan vs South Africa Sep. 10 South Africa vs Nigeria Rwanda vs Sudan Oct. 10-11 Sudan vs Nigeria Rwanda vs South Africa Oct. 15 Nigeria vs Sudan South Africa vs Rwanda Nov. 14-15 Rwanda vs Nigeria South Africa vs Sudan Nov. 19 Nigeria vs South Africa Sudan vs Rwanda Rwanda will begin its campaign against defending champions Nigeria in the final round of the qualifying series for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations –Morocco. The first games will be played on the weekend of September 5-6 and Amavubi will be away in Nigeria, while, in the other Group A fixture, Sudan will be hosting South Africa. In second game, Rwanda will host Sudan on September 10 before playing host to South Africa on the weekend of October 10-11. The return leg matches will start on October 15 when Amavubi travel to South Africa. Stephen Constantine’s team will host the Super Eagles on the weekend of November 14-15, before winding up their qualifying campaign in Sudan on November 19. Rwanda has met Nigeria four times before, managing only a draw in both home matches. The first meeting was in 2006 when Jimmy Gatete scored first at Amahoro stadium before Martins Obefimi equalised, after Rwanda had lost 2-0 away. In 2012, the two countries drew 0-0 at the Kigali Regional Stadium before Rwanda suffered a 1-0 defeat in the return leg in Calabar. However, it is the first time Rwanda will be playing against South Africa. Following Saturday’s qualification for the group stage, Constantine warned that the upcoming games will be trickier. “We are happy to win and qualify but the next stage is going to be difficult because we’ll be facing big teams,” he admitted after the win over Congo. Rwanda need to finish in the top two or be the best third-placed team overall if the country is to reach the finals tournament for the second time in history. The final tournament is scheduled January 17 through February 8, 2015 in Morocco Rwanda reached the final stage after beating Congo Brazzaville on penalties 4-3 after overturning a 2-2 deficit suffered in the first leg. Group A: Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa Group B: Mali, Malawi, Ethiopia, Algeria Group C: Burkina Faso, Lesotho, Gabon, Angola Group D: Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, DR Congo, Cameroon Group E: Ghana, Uganda, Guinea, Togo Group F: Zambia, Mozambique, Niger, Cap Verde Group G: Tunisia, Botswana, Senegal, Egypt

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Amavubi Stars to start away to Nigeria