French tactician Caroline Pizzala will soon be unveiled a new head coach of Gasogi United, in a sensational move that would see her become the first woman to ever coach a Rwandan men’s topflight team.
Many thought that club proprietor Charles Kakooza Nkuriza was joking about hiring a woman to coach his team but the businessman insisted that he was real bout the appointment of the former midfielder at Division 1 Féminine sides Paris Saint-Germain and Marseilles as well as the French national women’s team.
"She is joining Gasogi United and she will arrive in the country before July 15,” KNC said.
"It was not easy to find such a female coach at her level. I think the Rwandan league will also be privileged to be the first professional league with a senior female coach taking charge of a men’s club,” he said.
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Pizzala, 35, will join Gasogi as new head coach three years after announcing her retirement from international football. She will be assisted by Rwandan coach Alain Kirasa rejoined the club after one season at Police where he was an assistant coach to Vincent Mashami.
Born in Marseille, France on November 23, 1987, the midfielder started her football career in 2001 with her hometown club Celtic Marseille where she spent four seasons after which she left the club to join CNFE Clairefontaine team, which is known for having talented players.
She later moved to Paris Saint-Germain where she had a good season overall.
Arriving at PSG, Pizzala was immediately called up to the French national team, something she says made her feel like she had achieved her dream because she grew up wanting to play for the national team.
During her seven years at PSG, she played 127 games and scored 20 goals.
She left PSG in 2014 and rejoined native club Marseilles. She eventually helped the club win the Division 2 title in 2015–16 season which saw the team promoted to the first division.
Pizzala played for Marseille until 2020 when she retired from football. She played 123 games for the club during her second spell and scored 28 goals.
In the national team, Pizzala played for France as the under-17 team that participated in the European Youth Festival in 2003, which has now become the UEFA Women's U17 Championship.
She played her first competitive game for the French senior national team in 2009, in a game in which the country defeated Slovenia to qualify for the 2009 European Cup.
Pizzala becomes Gasogi’s fifth coach since the club was promoted to the topflight league in 2018/2019 season. She will replace Ugandan coach Paul Kiwanuka who left the club at the end of the season.
Gasogi United were once tipped to contend for the league title last season after finishing the first round in the fourth place, just two points behind then table leaders AS Kigali. However, the team’s mediocre second round saw them finish the league campaign sitting eighth on the table with 43 points.
KNC now hopes that the team can achieve great things under Pizzala ahead of the upcoming 2023/24 season and succeed where her predecessors failed.
The club has been so active on the ongoing transfer market and has so far signed eight players in fresh efforts to beef up the squad ahead of next season.
They include Congolese forward Arselle Cedrick, Burundian Modele Akiba and Cameroonian goalkeeper Dawuda Ibrahim Bareli on an undisclosed fee, joining local players including the likes of Axcel Iradukunda (Gicumbi FC), Jean Dieu Harerimana and Fred Shyaka (both from AS Muhanga), Musa Akimanizanye (Vision FC) and Jean de Dieu Kwizera (Gasabo FC) who signed for the club earlier this month.