Confident Amavubi depart for Mauritius

Thursday Madagascar vs CAR 2:30pmComoros vs Botswana 3pmDjibouti vs Liberia 4pmGhana vs Mozambique 5:30pm Rwanda national football team jets out this evening at 6pm, aboard RwandAir, to Mauritius ahead of their AFCON 2017 Gabon qualifier against the island nation on Saturday at Anjalay Stadium. The team, which boasts six professional players, has been in residential camp at Golden Tulip Hotel Nyamata since last Saturday for intensive preparations, and head Coach Johnny McKinstry believes the team is well prepared for the encounter. Amavubi should make no mistake to be fooled by the fact that Ghana walloped Mauritius 7-0 last June while they (Amavubi) lost narrowly 1-0 to the Black Stars in September. Speaking to Times Sport, the Northern Irish-born tactician said he is confident in the team he summoned for the two Group H qualifiers against Mauritius, but admitted it’s going to be a tough double-header despite facts showing Mauritius not having a very good impressive record in AFCON and World cup qualifiers. “We expect two tough encounters against Mauritius, make no mistake about it, Mauritius will fight for every ball over the two games. Last year, they held Togo and Burundi and claimed victories against Seychelles and a very talented Mozambique team,” McKinstry told this paper. “No one should take them lightly; we need to be at our best to ensure we get positive results from both games to boost our chances for AFCON 2017 qualification. Everyone on the team, be it a player or coaching staff, understands what awaits us,” the 30-year-old said. The team holds its final training drill this morning at 10am at Amahoro national stadium before setting off to Mauritius. Currently playing for Le Mans in France, former APR forward Elias Uzamukunda was the last player to join the team in camp on Wednesday. Other foreign-based players in the squad include Salomon Nirisarike (STVV, Belgium), Abouba Sibomana (Gor Mahia, Kenya), Jean Baptiste Mugiraneza (Azam FC, Tanzania), Haruna Niyonzima (Yanga, Tanzania) and Laussane Sport (Swiss) striker Quentin Rushenguziminega. Ghana top the Group H table with 6 points, Rwanda is second with 3 points, Mauritius are third with also 3 points but the former have a better goal difference, while Mozambique sit at the bottom without a point after two rounds of qualifiers. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Confident Amavubi depart for Mauritius