Thursday, October, 7
Rwanda vs Uganda (Kigali Stadium, 7 PM)
The national football team, Amavubi on Wednesday, September 29 started camp at La Palisse Hotel in Nyamata ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifier match against the Uganda Cranes slated on October 7 at Kigali Stadium at 7 pm.
Vincent Mashami’s boys head into camp after losing the first game against Mali and drawing 1-1 against Kenya. The Rwandan trainer knows he has a big job to do in raising the team’s morale ahead of the biggest tourney in the world, which Rwanda has never qualified for at the senior level.
Amavubi will train at Amahoro Stadium in the morning and do evening preparations under floodlights at Kigali Stadium.
However, for Amavubi, there is still a lot of work to be done in defense and attack which are two areas that need to be worked on if Rwanda is to make a successful challenge against the Uganda Cranes
After playing the first leg, Amavubi will again face Uganda at St Mary’s Stadium in Kitende for the return leg which is slated for October 10 in Kampala as the two sides seek a ticket for the 2022 World Cup.
The 24 local summoned players start camp at Golden Tulip in Nyamata. However, 12 foreign-based professional players are expected to join at the end of this week.
Prior to joining the camp, all the players and staff took Covid-19 tests at Ferwafa headquarters, in Remera, and their health will be monitored daily at the hotel as requested by the guidelines of the Ministry of Sports.
Mali leads the group with four points, followed by Kenya with two points, Uganda is third with two points as well, while Rwanda is fourth with one point and only the top team will progress to the third and final round
Meanwhile, Amavubi has been boosted after Sweden based midfield maestro Rafael York was finally approved to play for Amavubi.
Rafael York will feature for Amavubi after playing for Sweden in the under-age competitions.
The 22-year-old plays for Swedish top division side Kalmar FF.
This will be the 34th meeting between the two sides. Rwanda has won 10, drawn 9 and lost 14 games. The last time Amavubi defeated Uganda was in 2017 which was 2-0 in the final qualification round of the African Nations Championship.