Rwanda has destine in own hands

As hosts, Rwanda would not have asked for a better start to the 2011 African Youth U-17 Championship after registering a nervy but somehow deserved 2-1 win over Burkina Faso in the tournament’s opening match on Saturday. Two early goals in either half were enough for Richard Tardy’s boys to see of a physical Burkina Faso side, who were undone by their lack of concentration in the second and 46th minutes, which Rwanda’s exploited to the maximum. The last time Rwanda hosted a major tournament, it was the African U-20 Championship in 2009, unfortunately, that time the team didn’t have much luck as it failed to progress from the group, which had the two eventual finalists, Ghana and Cameroon. Ghana under the guidance of Sellas Tetteh, the current senior national team, won the tournament and also went on to the Fifa world title held in Egypt the same year. Success in these two competitions is the reason Tetteh is the coach of the Amavubi Stars. But once again, we has the chance to not only have a go at a major continental championship title at home soil, but also play in their first world championship, which will be held in Mexico later in the year, provided Tardy’s young troops can reach at least the semifinals. Thankfully, the team took one giant step towards achieving that target with that victory on Saturday, which will certainly give them more confidence going into their next game against Egypt on Tuesday. After the opening day results, Rwanda and Egypt should be favourites to top group A provided none of them makes a mess of what appears to be a very good position where three more points is all it requires for either to book their ticket on the plane to Mexico in June. Ideally, every Rwandan would love to see their team win the tournament but given the fact that we don’t live in an ideal world, a place in the last four would be quite an achievement for a country that has not had a very good record in youth competitions. History does not favour Rwanda in this competition in which on only one (Gambia) of the last eights hosts have gone on to win the title, but if Tardy’s and his team can change it, that will be a bit of history. As hosts, the Junior Wasps’ players, their coaches and the fan should be under on elusion of size of the amount of task lying ahead of them if Rwanda is to become not only the second hosts to win this completion but also the first country from this part of the continent to be African champions. But to even start thinking of winning the competition or just qualifying for the Fifa world cup in Mexico, Tardy’s team must have to improve and start giving a lot more than they did on Saturday, where the midfield lacked real coordination. The French coach will have to remind his boys that a football game is played for 90 minutes and so he must prepare them to play that length of time, especially that Egypt is next, and we all saw against Senegal what the North Africans are capable of. You make a mistake of allowing them space on the ball the way Tardy’s players did against Burkina Faso and you’re dead. Ask the Senegalese, who tasted a douse of their (Egypt’s) effectiveness in the midfield on Saturday. Nonetheless, winning breeds confidence and if that’s the case, then the win against Burkina Faso should go along way to put the junior wasps in the right frame of mind for Tuesday’s top of the table clash, who winner will be not only assured of a place in the semifinals but on the place to Mexico. C’mon you Rwanda, you can do it after all you have your destine in your own hands, especially with that morale boosting win on Saturday. nku78@yahoo.com