RWANDA’S Lionceaux academy had a poor start at the Airtel Rising Stars African Championship as they lost 3-0 to Malawi yesterday at Onikan Stadium in Lagos, Nigeria.Malawi’s Joyce Banda Foundation of Malawi outpaced the Rwandan school in strength, pace and overall football display.With two matches to go, Lionceaux academy must beat hosts Nigeria today and DR Congo on Thursday to be assured of progressing to the next round. Meanwhile, Nigeria picked three points at against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the opening game of Group A on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory. Nigeria went into the driver’s seat from the 22nd minute when Yakubu Gambo fired home the first goal to spark off celebrations at the Agege Stadium, with Gbenga Folami completing the rout in the 60th minute to give Nigeria chances of winning the championship. The winning male and female teams from the competition will receive the grand prize of $ 10,000 towards the education of the players. The Airtel Rising Stars U-17 soccer tournament is a unique pan-African initiative of Airtel Africa designed to create a pool of talent to feed the national soccer teams of African countries.
