Drogba doubtful for Amavubi qualifier

Amavubi Star defense will be relieved by the news that Ivory Coast striker and captain Didier Drogba could miss his team’s 2012 Nations Cup qualifier on Saturday in Kigali. The 33-year-old forward suffered mild concussion during Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over Norwich City in the English Premier League on Saturday. With the injury, Drogba is uncertain for the weekend’s qualifier though the Ivorian football federation is yet to make any formal communication. The absence of Drogba would be a huge boost for Amavubi which will be seeking for maximum points in-front of the home fans. However, Amavubi assistant coach Eric Nshimiyimana said yesterday, “We can’t afford to focus on only one player. Even if Drogba is missing, we have to prepare ourselves regardless because they have many talented players who can cause us lots of problems.” Team captain Haruna Niyonzima, who joined camp Friday night, told Times Sport yesterday that the West African side, which is the top ranked team in Africa, have a lot of fire power and the wasps will not take any comfort from Drogba’s absence. “I don’t think they will be weakened by Drogba’s absence. They still have very good strikers like Gervinho and Salomon Kalou, who can score goals anytime. We will need to produce a very good performance to get a win,” the Yanga Africans’ star winger said. Although Rwanda is already out of contention for the 2012 finals tournament, which will be co-hoested by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, coach Sellas Tetteh wants the win to boost confidence and morale in the team ahead of the 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Eriteria and also salvage his career. The Ghanaian has been in charge of the national team for 15 matches but has only won 2, drawn three and lost the rest. Ivory Coast top Group H with 12 points, Benin and Burundi are second and third respectively with 4 points, while Rwanda is last on 3 points. Ends

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Drogba doubtful for Amavubi qualifier