AS Kigali coach pays tribute to Cup heroes

After winning this year’s Peace Cup against Malaria title on Saturday, AS Kigali head coach Andrew Gasambugo paid tribute to his players for the outstanding performance that gave the City of Kigali side their first trophy since 2001.Former SEC coach led AS Kigali to glory with a dominating 3-0 victory over fellow national league side AS Muhanga at Amahoro stadium. “I am happy after winning the title, but what is most important is that the team has won a major trophy after so many years without winning anything, the whole team has been excellent for the whole season and we are delighted to end on a high,” he told Times Sport.He added, “I’m happy with the performance of my team not only today but throughout the entire campaign, and I want to congratulate my players for the effort each one of them put in to make this dream a reality.”He acknowledged that much as he might be credited for winning the Peace Cup title, AS Kigali’s success has been built around team effort where everyone connected to the club, from players and coaching staff to management and the fans, played a key role.“We did our best to win all games and we managed to do that, and we hope to continue to work even harder because this is not the end as we have a big season ahead of us, which will see AS Kigali compete in next year’s CAF Confederation Cup,” he stated.AS Kigali skipper Jimmy Mbaraga who played a key role in the team’s triumph, couldn’t hide his happiness after becoming the first player to lift a major trophy for the club in 13 years.“I am glad to help my team win, but everyone is happy because they have done so much to win this tournament. The whole team has been wonderful,” he told Times Sport after the game.AS Muhanga coach Ali Bizimungu summed up his team’s demise in just a few words: “We failed to defend well against an excellent team, that’s why we got punished.”“It is a learning process for our team, but I thank my players for the effort, we did our best but lost to the best team, we failed to use our chances and AS Kigali took full advantage,” admitted the former Rayon Sports coach.Two first half goals from Bodo Ndikumana in the second minute and Hamidu Ndayisaba in the 23rd minute plus Fidele Nduwimana’s strike five minutes into the second half ended AS Muhanga’s hopes of a first major trophy in the club’s history.On top of the trophy, AS Kigali received Rwf7m and will represent Rwanda in next year’s Caf-Confederation Cup, while AS Muhanga walked away with Rfw5m. APR and Bugesera each received Rfw2.25m.