Today

Group H

Rwanda           vs       Ghana          3:30pm SS9

Sunday

Mauritius        vs       Mozambique

The Rwanda national football team, Amavubi,  will be looking to defy the odds when they take on Ghana in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group H qualifier this afternoon at Amahoro National Stadium.

The Amavubi, who are second in the group but tied on three points with Ghana, will go into today’s game looking for maximum points to increase their chances of making it to the finals tournament in Gabon.

"We are all well prepared both mentally and physically. We know that it will be a difficult game obviously because they got a win over Congo on Tuesday so they will be in a good positive frame of mind. We have to be ready from the very first minute,” said Amavubi coach Johnny McKinstry.

The home side will rely on the creativity of Haruna Niyonzima in midfield but more importantly the defensive quartet of Michel Rusheshangoga, Emery Bayisenge, Salomon Nirisarike and Abouba Sibomana will be tested by the forward line of Ghanaian captain Asamoah Gyan, Andre Dede Ayew and Jordan Ayew.

McKinstry explained that, "We have to be at our very best if we are to win. If we make even the smallest mistake we could pay for it. We have to push forward and put them under some pressure.

But if we sit back and allow them space to play in our half, it will only put us under pressure. We cannot just sit there and wait for them to come to us. However, the game will go through different phases and will not have one approach.”

The Northern Irish trainer is pleased to have his entire squad fit with no injury worries whatsoever.

The last time the two teams met in an AFCON qualifier, Rwanda edged Ghana 1-0 courtesy of a memorable Jimmy Gatete goal that ultimately earned Rwanda her first appearance at the continental tournament in Tunisia.

 Amavubi want to achieve this feat yet again and McKinstry’s target is to register 11 or 12 points on the table standings and so anything positive from today’s clash against Ghana would go a long way towards the team achieving their objective.

McKinstry noted that statistics show that a team that has earned 12 points in the past two decades has gone on to qualify for AFCON and realistically edging the Black Stars to the top spot in Group H is a tough call but finishing as the best runners-up will be good enough.

 Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan told Saturday Sport that, "It is going to be a very interesting game because Rwanda won their first game and their confidence level is high.”

"We have watched them and they are a very organized team. Statistically, Ghana is ahead of Rwanda but football does not talk about statistics right now. We need to just deliver,” noted the man, whose missed penalty against Uruguay, saw Ghana miss the opportunity to become the first African team to reach the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010.