Nshimiyimana to handle Eritrea qualifier

RWANDA is in no rush to appoint a new coach for the Amavubi team, Times Sport understands. The Sports minister Protais Mitali made this clear on Wednesday when he said that the new coach would be named after the preliminary round of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers which kick-off next month. Rwanda will play Eritrea in a two-legged contest were the winner joins Algeria, Benin and Mali in Group H. The first leg will be played in Asmara on November 11 with the return leg slated for November 15 in Kigali. “It’s important that there is some bit of continuity after the Benin victory so Nshimiyimana will carry on temporarily,” the minister said. “It is also fair to reward Nshimiyimana because he did a good job in Benin. He has built some confidence in the team and normally, it takes time for this to happen.” Mitali also rubbished claims that the ministry has reached an agreement with former St.George coach Mico Milutin Sredojevic for the wasps’ job. “We held talks with him just like we have done for most of the other candidates but nothing has been agreed,” the minister continued. 30 coaches have applied for the position which fell vacant in September following Sellas Tetteh’s resignation. The Ghanaian threw in the towel after a series of disappointing results that included a humiliating 5-0 home defeat against Ivory Coast. Some of the front runners for the job include interim coach Eric Nshimiyimana, Stephen Keshi (Nigeria), Adel Amrouche (Algerian) and former Amavubi coach Ratomir Dujkovic. In Africa, the top team from each of the 10 groups will qualify for the final play-off, and will play on home and away basis to determine the five slots. In all, 154 matches will be played between November 2011 and November 2013. Ends