Sports

AYC qualifiers, 2nd leg

Rwanda vs. Namibia (2-0)
Libya vs.Tunisia (2-3)
Mauritania vs. Morocco (0-5)
Mozambique vs. Uganda (0-4)
Sierra Leone vs. Chad (3-2)
Liberia vs. Niger (0-3)
Sudan vs. Tanzania (1-3)
Botswana vs. Zimbabwe (0-4)

THE U-20 Amavubi side take on Namibia in their bid to reach the second round of the Africa Youth Championship qualifiers this afternoon at Amahoro stadium.

Rwanda goes into today’s match with a 2-0 victory attained away in Windhoek a fortnight ago. Skipper Emery Bayisenge and Kipson Atuheire scored the two precious goals.

The team is expected to make only one addition of Belgium-based Jean Marie Rusingizandekwe who missed the first leg due to injury.

The players are in the mood to ditch their counterparts out of the campaign.

Head coach Richard Tardy said yesterday, “We have had good training sessions in the last three days and the spirit in the team is good because all players are thirsty to play for their country,”

“We only have to be careful in tomorrow’s (today) game. We will go into this game starting a fresh as if we dont have any advantage,”

“Our target is to win and go into the second round,” added Tardy.

Namibia’s Ricardo Mannetti readily said that “Rwandans are home, they want to please their fans but mostly they have international experience that my team has not got as we have just assembled this squad for their first outing in the competition and this will be our first game outside of our country.” Eight places are at stake for the second round. Five teams, it seems, will take a substantial advantage from the first leg wins into this weekend’s return fixtures.

Apart from Rwanda, Morocco, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Niger and Sierra Leone boosted their passage to second round with first leg victories. 

Neighbours Uganda have vowed to crush Mozambique in the second leg. Head coach Paul Nkata said their goal is to qualify, thus will play a positive and attack minded game.

Nkata knows that if they qualify to the second round their reward will be an encounter against a different opponent in the form of Ghana.

Sierra Leoneans entertain visiting Chad with the advantage of a 3-2 win from two weeks ago in N’Djamena.

Tanzania takes a 3-1 first leg win to Khartoum, with  Sudan keen on putting home advantage.

The return match between Libya and Tunisia has been postponed for a week at the request of Libyan officials. The match will take place on Friday, May 11 in Khartoum.

Contact email: bonnie.mugabe[at]newtimes.co.rw