Amavubi have work cut out in AFCON qualifiers

In the wake of Rwanda’s important 1 - 0 away win against Mozambique in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers on Sunday, the Amavubi have edged closer to their points target, according to head coach Johnny McKinstry. Rwanda is second in Group H with three points, behind table leaders Ghana who thrashed Mauritius 7-1 in Accra on Sunday and the Black Stars are ahead of Rwanda on goal difference. “For us, we have our points target. We know what we feel will take us to the Africa Cup of Nations and three points now is three points closer to that,” explained the optimistic McKinstry who has made it clear that finishing second in Group H is a realistic target for Rwanda. In an earlier interview after the AFCON draws, he admitted Ghana were the favourites to qualify out of the group but Rwanda would be looking to finish as one of the two second best teams on the continent to join hosts Gabon and the other 13 group winners at the final tournament. Rwanda will be looking to amass a minimum of 12 points and historically could qualify for the 2017 AFCON since no team has failed to make it to the continent’s most prestigious football tournament with 12 points in the qualifying campaign in more than three decades. Winning all their home games (nine points) or defeating Mauritius and Mozambique in Kigali and picking a draw against Ghana (seven points) would hand Amavubi a total of 12 or 10 points respectively and with the latter assumption, and another win in Mauritius or Ghana would complete a dream finish and possible qualification for the Gabon event. McKinstry has admitted that winning away matches in Africa is very difficult but it will be very important if Rwanda wins all their home games and when the Black Stars take on the Amavubi on September 4 in Kigali, the home side will be looking to maintain their winning ways. “Our focus going into the Ghana game in September means for the players, there is going to be a little less pressure on them because they’ve got these three points against Mozambique but our whole focus now is can we build on that? Can we go and put in a similar if not better performance against Ghana in September and try and build on that and add to it? Whether that is one more point or three more points but we got 100% points that are available at the moment and that is pleasing so it means we’ve got a solid foundation to build on,” explained the Irish tactician. A look at the 2015 AFCON qualifying campaign, it was only Algeria (15 points), Tunisia (14 points) and Senegal (13 points) that qualified with more than 12 points. South Africa and Gabon had 12 points while Zambia and Burkina Faso managed 11. Eventual champions Ivory Coast, Congo and Guinea had 10 while Democratic republic of Congo qualified as third best with nine points.

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Amavubi have work cut out in AFCON qualifiers