Losing to Morocco was a lesson - McKinstry

Group A Team PD W D L Pts GD Rwanda 3 2 0 1 6 -1Ivory Coast 3 2 0 1 6 3Morocco 3 1 1 1 4 2Gabon 3 0 1 2 1 -4 Amavubi Amavubi head coach Johnny McKinstry has said that the 4-1 defeat at the hands of Morocco in their final Group A match on Sunday, is a big lesson for his team, going into the knockout stage of the 2016 African Nations Championship. It was a match in which McKinstry, 30, made eight changes to the team that played and won the first two games against Ivory Coast (1-0) and Gabon (2-1). McKinstry tipped his men to do a lot better going in the quarter-final. “Losing to Morocco was a big lesson for us, we are going to prepare the same way we have done for all the matches, and the quarter-final will be tougher. We rested some players with the quarter-final in mind, so we need to take lessons from this loss and try to put on a better performance against whichever team we will meet,” explained the Northern Irishman after the Morocco game. Midfielder Imran Nshimiyimana, who was captain (against Morocco), central defender Abdul Rwatubyaye and striker Ernest Sugira were the only three that started the previous game against Gabon. “It was about giving an opportunity to some of the players who were not involved in the first two games. I think we made some basic mistakes, which we have to fix before the next game,” he added. Rwanda and Ivory Coast finished with six points each, but the hosts topped the group courtesy of their win over the later in the tournament opening match. Morocco finished with four points, while Gabon only managed just a point—both teams have exited the tournament.. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Losing to Morocco was a lesson - McKinstry