Amavubi Captain Haruna Niyonzima, has appealed to his teammates to fight for a good result in the Seychelles when the two sides face off in World Cup qualifiers on Thursday. The game will get underway at 2pm CAT. Rwanda and the Seychelles are set for a double-header in the preliminary round for a spot in the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar. During Thursday’s clash, Niyonzima will be making his 86th appearance for Amavubi since 2007 international debut. No player has made more appearances. Before the team’s departure on Monday, Niyonzima admitted to Times Sport that it is going to be a tricky away game, but he and his teammates were ready to do everything possible for a positive result at Stade Linite in the island country’s capital, Victoria. “We have a lightly different team, a blend of young and experienced players and I believe we are able to pull off a win away from home,” said Haruna, a former midfielder for Rayon Sports and APR, who joined AS Kigali in July. “Seychelles are way below us [Rwanda] in Fifa rankings, but that won’t fool us. We are going to give it everything we got for a place in the group stage.” According to the latest Fifa rankings, Rwanda is in 133rd position on global scale, while the Seychelles lie 192nd, only ahead of Djibouti, Somalia and Eritrea in Africa. After the first-leg, Vincent Mashami’s side will come back in the country and immediately report back to residential camp ahead of the return-leg decider on September 10 at Kigali Stadium. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
