The thought of ‘parking a bus’ in the last 15 minutes of a game against APR FC for the sake of holding onto a lead will with immediate effect be deemed misleading. Deceptive. In the space of six days, the army side has scored six goals in the last 15 minutes including four against archrivals Rayon Sports in the 75th, 79th, 85th and 89th minutes to hand Vincent Mashami’s side their biggest win against the Blues in league history. With the same confidence going into Saturday’s clash against Mozambican champions Liga Desportiva de Maputo, the Rwandan record 14-time league champions went a goal down three minutes into the second half and many a fan sat back, chin in hands and looked to the heavens. To them victory at the final whistle was wishful thinking but most notably a tall order, except that the feeling was with the fans in the stands for the players on the pitch had a completely different objective – to win. APR needed to score twice and not concede again. With this in mind, APR mounted a comeback with such urgency and passion in every move and their continuous failed attempts nevertheless brought back hope in the stands. A penalty appeal turned down by South Sudanese referee Gait Metodious Oting in the 52nd minute after Hermenegildo Mutambe appeared to handle the ball in the box and a Yannick Mukunzi header that went agonisingly wide from a Jean Claude Iranzi corner kick in the 73rd minute did not deter APR from staying hopeful. A minute later substitute Bernabe ‘Baloteli’ Mubumbyi, who had replaced Maxime Sekamana cancelled out Ismail Hadji Arnaldo Mustafa’s opening goal to send the distraught fans into frenzy, celebrating with such enthusiasm and renewed optimism. When Jean Baptiste Mugiraneza volleyed the ball into an open net in the 82nd minute, it was the ultimate reason for the fans to commence celebrations with no single worry that APR meets Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the next round. Bring on Al Ahly! That APR will face the continent’s most successful club, a traditional powerhouse with a century rich of football history should make for a worrying thought but no! Mashami refused to fall victim to the intimidating pedigree at hand and instead said, “Al Ahly is a great team and have massive experience on the African continent but they are not from heaven. We can eliminate them or they can eliminate us.” APR host Al Ahly with the first leg in Kigali on the weekend of March 13-15 and the return leg will be played on the weekend of April 3-5 in Egypt. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
