Tardy shifts focus to 2015 campaign

A disillusioned Richard Tardy has shifted focus to the 2015 Africa Youth Championship and appealed to the Rwanda Football Federation and the Ministry of Sports to help him start immediate preparations for the U-17 and U-20 teams.The Frenchman, who besides managing the U-17 and U-20 teams, is also the national technical director, believes Rwanda can qualify for the 2015 continental championships if both teams are given adequate preparations.Following the disappointment of the U-17 team losing on penalties to Botswana in the qualifyer for the 2013 AYC edition in Morocco, Tardy told Times Sport that although Rwanda missed out this time, it should not overshadow the positives gained from the experience.“We must take care of our young players because when you consider the way they played, they have improved greatly, they have become stronger physically and mental, which we must appreciate,” he said.He added, “Apart from the players from Isonga, who play regularly in the league, the rest of the players should be engaged in as many friendly matches as possible in order to keep them in good condition because this team (U-17) is our future U-20 side.”“Even though we have missed out on the next qualifying round, we were not prepared for the two matches against Botswana. The U-17 team went down 6-5 on post match penalties despite grinding a 1-0 win over the Young Zebras in a fierce second-leg clash on Saturday.Midfielder Patrick Sibomana scored Rwanda’s goal on 90th minute and made the road to the final qualification round become highly likely only later to go the Botswana way.“Last year’s team which qualified for the World Cup was prepared for over a year and we all saw the rewards,” the coach noted, in what could be interpreted as a dig at his bosses for not having a good preparation plan for the youth team. “This U-17 team should be prepared very well, starting immediately as the future U-20 team, while the next U-17 team should be picked now such that it is ready for the 2015 championship qualifiers,” stated Tardy, who led Rwanda to the 2011 AYC final in Kigali, but most importantly, to the Fifa World Cup in Mexico.In August, Rwanda’s U-20 team was bundled out of the 2013 Africa Junior championship, by Mali, which will be held in Algeria.