Amavubi wary of ‘angry’ Zimbabwe

TodayQuarterfinalTanzania v Eritrea 2pmRwanda   v Zimbabwe 4pm Yesterday results:Uganda 1-0 KenyaZanzibar 0-0 ZambiaZanzibar wins 4-3 on penalties NAIROBI - AMAVUBI Stars interim coach Eric Nshimiyimana has his eyes set on doing a double over Zimbabwe when the two teams meet in the quarterfinal of the Cecafa Orange Senior Challenge Cup this afternoon at Nyayo stadium in Nairobi.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Iranzi is expected to return to the starting line-up this afternoon after serving a two-match suspension. (File photo)

Today
Quarterfinal

Tanzania v Eritrea 2pm
Rwanda   v Zimbabwe 4pm

Yesterday results:
Uganda 1-0 Kenya
Zanzibar 0-0 Zambia
Zanzibar wins 4-3 on penalties

NAIROBI - AMAVUBI Stars interim coach Eric Nshimiyimana has his eyes set on doing a double over Zimbabwe when the two teams meet in the quarterfinal of the Cecafa Orange Senior Challenge Cup this afternoon at Nyayo stadium in Nairobi.

Rwanda beat the Cosafa champions 1-0 at the group stage on Saturday but despite that win, Nshimiyimana isn’t in the mood to take anything for granted against what he described as an ‘angry’ which walks into today’s game with some scores to settle.

"I am very sure they are angry that we beat them, so they’ll come wanting to revenge and unlike the first game, they’re going to be charged up for this one which makes our task even harder,” acknowledged the acting coach.

He added, "The game is going to be very tactical since we now know each other’s style of play.”   "Nonetheless, we are confident about our chances of beating them.

The players are very committed and you can see that they really want to prove a point given the fact that people back home gave the team little chance to do well in this tournament.

"They (players) are a better physical condition, which gives me hope and the only thing I need to do is to prepare them well mentally,” Nshimiyimana noted.  Apart from Albert Ngaboyisibo and Didier Kapet, Nshimiyimana has a fully fit squad for today’s game.

The versatile Ngaboyisibo aggravated his knee injury in the first game against Somalia while Kapet misses the game through suspension after accumulating two yellow cards.

Midfielder Jean Claude Iranzi is expected to return to the starting team after serving his suspension for a red card he received against Somalia.

Nshimiyimana’s opposite number of Zimbabwe, Norman Mapeza has played down any notion that his team will go into the game with a revenge mission.

He said, "We need to play and win, that’s the main objective. There’s nothing like revenge for us. We’re taking this game just like any other.”

Like Amavubi, Zimbabwe is also made up of players from their U-23 side. In fact, Mapeza claims that the team is totally different from the one that won the Cosafa tournament.

The match will be live in SuperSport.

Ends