Amavubi head coach Carlos Alos Ferrer still finds a draw against Benin hard to take, insisting that his side could have achieved a better result from Wednesday’s AFCON qualifier in Cotonou.
Rwanda put up a spirited performance as they earned a point from a 1-1 draw against the Cheetahs of Benin at Stade de l&039;Amitié in Cotonou in a crucial Group L qualifying encounter despite playing half an hour with a man down.
Rwanda opened the scoring in the 13th minute through Gilbert Mugisha after a superb pass from Hakim Sahabo before the home side equalized in the 82d minute through Steve Moubie after Sahabo had been sent off for a second bookable offense in the 60th minute.
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Ferrer rued the red card without which believes his men could have won the match with full compliments.
"I am not happy with the result because I think if we played 11 versus 11, we would have been better and we could have taken the three points," Ferrer told journalists in a post-match press conference.
"When we lost one player, it was difficult for us. We knew that Benin is a very physical team when playing crosses with very good strikers and it was not easy,” he admitted.
With the result, Rwanda remained third in Group L with two points from back to back draws while Benin picked their first point after losing their first two games.
Ferrer praised his players’ fighting spirit and vowed to do better when both sides face off again in the return leg on March 27 in Cotonou, a venue which Rwanda is challenging the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to change for the benefit of their home advantage.
"But the point is good for us, we are still above Benin and we will try to do better at home. I want to congratulate the players, I am really proud of them. They worked hard and did what I wanted,” he noted.
Amavubi are in the race for a ticket to AFCON finals that will take place in Ivory Coast in January 2023 and, with a successful qualification, they would be making their second appearance in the tournament’s finals after another historic qualification for Tunisia 2004.