It’s not much fun to be Rwanda football national team coach. I mean, to succeed in this job, you need to be more than just a coach. It’s strange that a country as small as our Rwanda somewhere in Central Africa, eehh, I almost forgot, recently ‘relocated’ to the more strategic East Africa and apparently as harmless as it’s present Fifa and Caf ranking suggest, its national team coaching job should become such a big deal to mess around with. Minus the unsettled Kenya, no other Cecafa member country enjoys the luxury of hiring and sacking national team trainers as Rwanda this is no criticism but just a reference. Any coach, regardless of the team he/she is training, should keep his job basing on results or at least, what’s contained in his contract, but one thing I’m certain of is that any contract rotates around winning football matches—the rest is a by-the-way. I am not one person to be carried away so easily regardless of the situation, but I’ve developed an instant conviction that the new Amavubi Stars head coach can do the needful if given full support from all respective corners. And with ‘all respective corners’, I’m talking about Ferwafa, the Sports ministry, the fans, clubs and their coaches but above all the media so as every Rwandan. If truth is to be said, the previous two trainers Roger Palmegren and Michael Nees did not get significant support during their respective times, something that, if combined with their own inefficiency, led to their downfall. The consequence of not providing coaches with the support they need to succeed with the team are there for all of us to see and I, just like any other concerned citizen, hope we learn from past mistakes if we expect Josip Kuze not to go the same road as his two predecessors. And by giving him support, it shouldn’t give anyone else (apart from himself and his technical team) the license to interfere in his work, mainly when it comes to picking the team. Coaches’ duties all over the world, have been compromised (especially from their bosses) in one way of another when it comes to the issue of which player should be on the team and or who shouldn’t and us here in Rwanda, the story hasn’t been any different or better, for that matter. Difference between Kuze and Nees or Palmegren Unlike Nees but similar to Palmegren, Kuze looks a composed man, even when talking to you, you can just see streams of confidence dripping down his face. Palmegren promised World Cup (2006) in his first press conference, Nees wasn’t even given the platform to promise anything (he came in unnoticed and left in similar style) while Kuze when asked he simply put it, “It’s unprofessional to say we shall qualify (for world cup 2010) but we’ll try our best and see what happens”. The Swede and the German boosted a little bit of experience coaching at international level but unlike his predecessors, the Croat boosts of a far richer experience at club level (even at his level, he seems miles ahead of the former). Only reading his biography and his achievements at club level both as a player and coach, you come to a conclusion (even when could be immature at this stage) that he has the ability to awaken our slumbering team. Unlike his predecessors, facts are there to support Kuze’s cause so maybe we should give him time and support as we wait to see where his tide takes us. In his biography, they talk about his strongpoint being his ability to make his players play better than they can, they improve their abilities under his leadership and that he finds each player his perfect role as well as being able to assemble a team in a formation which can’t be described by any standard one, Ummmm…!! Is Kuze the man to fill Ratomir’s shoes? History will judge that Rwanda’s football national team qualified for its maiden Africa Nations’ Cup (2004) under a coach who originates from Eastern Europe. I don’t think anyone who takes trouble to identify with football in this country can forget the name Djuckovic Ratomir—what he did and how he left the team, I assume you all know, the rest is history. Looking at Kuze for the first time, I saw a resemblance of Ratomir—calm, flabby figure, seemingly confident (of himself) and relatively large eye glasses—I don’t know why but I certainly saw a successful ghost in him. Can anyone blame for that, certainly not. With over 25 years of coaching and ten clubs along the way, the former Dynamo Zagreb coach who turns 55 on November 13 and hailing from Eastern Europe, in Kuze we must have landed the man capable of finally filling Ratomir’s shoes, which proved too large to fill, first by Palmegren and later Nees. ‘United we stand, divided we fall’ When Youth, Culture and Sports Minister Joseph Habineza made it clear he plans to review his relationship with the local sports journalists, I thought to myself, ‘oh, no, it can’t be, not with you Mr. Minister’. I don’t want my opinion to be taken out of context but I think we (in sports) are lucky to have a man in Habineza as minister; he certainly gives his best towards making a difference in his ministerial duties. But one aspect that makes him stand out of the rest is his ‘free style’ towards the media—unlike his other counterparts, the youthful minister treats journalists as developmental partners, something that has made him a favorite for many of us. Honorable Minister, should remain the man we’re all proud to work with and he shouldn’t allow sentiments override good in him after all, ‘united we stand, divided we fall.’ Contact: hamza.nkuutu@gmail.com
