Winning CECAFA not my top priority, claims Amavubi coach

TodayGroup ATanzania Vs Zanzibar 1pmRwanda Vs Libya 3pmGroup BEthiopia Vs Burundi 2pm After seeing his side suffer two back-to-back defeats in the ongoing CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup, Amavubi head coach Anthony Hey has revised his targets. Before the start of the tournament, Hey had declared he wanted to win the tournament, which would boost his players’ confidence ahead of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals in Morocco. However, it appears Hey has changed or lowered his targets by admitting that winning the tournament is not his top priority. After Tuesday’s loss against Zanzibar, Hey, who fielded a team of reserves, admitted that his target is not to win the tournament but rather to give exposure to all players, especially the less experienced ones, as part of preparations for the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) finals in Morocco next year. “Winning CECAFA is not my top priority here, the main goal is to ensure players learn and gain experience ahead of CHAN,” the German-born manager said in a post-match interview. He added that, “The loss against Zanzibar showed us what we need to improve and how much work needs to be done before going to CHAN.” Meanwhile, Amavubi are hoping to register their first win in CECAFA when they face Libya today afternoon at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos. Antoine Hey’s team, who are bottom of the group, will be looking to avoid another defeat that would all but see them out of the regional tournament before the semi-final stage. However, Amavubi started their campaign losing 2-0 against hosts Kenya on Sunday before going down 3-1 at hands of low-rated Zanzibar on Tuesday. Rwanda have two games to play including today’s and Saturday clash with Tanzania. Only the top two teams will advance to the last four. Kenya tops the table with 4 points, one ahead of Zanzibar, Libya are third with 2 points, while Tanzania come fourth, with one point but having played one match, same as Zanzibar. On Tuesday, while Zanzibar stunned Rwanda 3-1, hosts Kenya were held to a barren draw by guests Libya. Zanzibar took the lead in the 34th minute through Yahya Mudathir for a 1-0 lead at the interval before Muhadjir Hakizimana responded immediately for Rwanda after the break with the leveler in the 46th minute. The islanders, however, regained the lead through Mohammed Djuma in the 52nd minute before Kassim Khamiss sealed the win with the third goal, four minutes to time. At the 38th edition in 2015 in Ethiopia, Amavubi, then under the tutelage of Northern Irishman Johnny McKinstry, reached the final but lost 1-0 to Uganda Cranes. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Winning CECAFA not my top priority, claims Amavubi coach