Rayon were unfortunate but are stronger than APR

Rayon Sports and APR FC fans must be relishing an opportunity for their habitual sarcastic and sour-grape retorts when either of the two gets eliminated from Cecafa Kagame Club Championships in Sudan.The army side kicked off with an unconvincing 1-0 win opener against underdogs Elman of Somalia, while the Blues stumbled to a thrilling 3-3 draw against Chadian champions Electric Sports. Your columnist still believes Gomez da Rosa’s squad is much stronger to withstand strong challenges at the Darfur-based tournament than their sworn enemies APR FC.That the three-time tournament winners, APR scored their goal midway through the second half and the opponent almost equalised on a spot kick that was squandered speaks volumes. It’s understandable; Rayon Sports were included as guest team in the competition when Tanzania’s Young Africans and Simba SC pulled out citing insecurity in the war-torn Darfur- Sudan but such lame excuses wouldn’t change the schedule. After all, there were competent clubs from Rwanda and Chad conversant with such a situation and ready to jump at the chance.However, the Rwandan reigning champions were prepared at a short notice. The squad and club management had been on a feasting-spree throughout the country in appreciation to the unwavering support fan-base, even during hard times.So Gomez’s side traveled without the club’s inspirational playmaker Amissi Cedric, defensive midfielder Johnson Bagoole, team captain Aphrodis Hategikimana and defender Faustin Usegimana, who were all left in Kigali with injuries. Nevertheless, Usengimana, as well as Amissi and Leandre Sekamana flew to Sudan on Wednesday to join the squad and ironically, it is Amissi who subbed late and scored the equaliser in the 93 minute! Gomez’s side are obviously faced with a daunting test against Ugandan reigning champions Express FC in the second group game on Saturday.Well, of course, the first two fixtures are a huge challenge for the Blues, but as I indicated above, Rayon Sports are much stronger than APR, despite receiving the invite at short notice.The newly crowned Rwandan league champions have a much better striking line in Gentil Shalita Kambale, Fuadi Ndayisenga, Cedric Amisi that score against any defence in the tournament.The Blues may be just a guest team but are no strangers in the tournament, having been the first Rwandan side to win the title away from home in 1998 under Coach Raoul Shungu and share that proud record of winning the regional title on foreign soil with Atraco, who did it in 2009 in Khartoum, Sudan.On the contrast, the three-time champions APR, seem not be better prepared despite the longer time at their disposal to do so. In fact they were just fortunate the opponent squandered their penalty but that shows a weakness in the backline- Ismail Nshutiyamagara’s foul in the box was uncalled for.However, anything may happen on the pitch in practical terms contrary to the fans’ expectations. You never know, APR may fill the loopholes and prove the critics wrong and hopefully history will prove this commentary wrong. Good luck to the two Rwandan teams.