Amavubi has learnt lessons from St Eloi Lupopo loss, says coach
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
The national football team head coach, Carlos Alos Ferrer conducts a training session in Morocco recently. Rwanda played two friendlies during the international break, drawing one and losing the other. Photo: Courtesy.

The national football team head coach, Carlos Alos Ferrer, was not pleased with his team’s lack of concentration in Tuesday’s friendly against DR Congolese club Saint Eloi Lupopo in Morocco, but insists they picked up some valuable lessons from their 3-1 loss.

The Spanish gaffer admitted that winning the tie against St Eloi Lupopo was not his biggest priority arguing that it was a game to test his new players and to evaluate their level of competence.

Ferrer said: "first of all I’m not happy with the way the team played, the boys lacked concentration.”

He added: "the ambition to play this match was not about winning or losing, because we played this game to evaluate our new players to see how much they can contribute to the team.”

Asked about how he could describe the performance of the new players, Ferrer said that some have the qualities that could help the national team in the future.

He said: "like I said before we played these two friendlies to prepare for the Benin game and I have seen some of the players who can help but of course there are others who cannot.”

"It’s difficult as a national team to impose your style on a team like Lupopo that has more than one hundred training sessions together but I think we’ll be ready for Benin in March,” Ferrer added.

Amavubi played two friendlies, the first being a draw against Equatorial Guinea last week. The national team wanted to play against Morocco in the second friendly but the tie didn’t materialise. It is not clear why the tie didn’t take place.

Rwanda will take on Benin on March 20, 2023 at Huye stadium. The match is part of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.