Rwanda U-20 team vow to turn tables in Egypt

Rwanda Junior Wasps head coach Jean Baptiste Kayiranga has promised to correct the mistakes that led to Sunday’s home loss to visitors Egypt. Kayiranga’s team put up a poor showing in the first leg of the 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualifiers as they lost 0-1 to Egypt on Sunday afternoon at Kigali Regional Stadium. A second half goal from Mohamed Ahmed Taher in the 50th minute gave the Egyptians an upper hand going into the return leg on June 10-12 in Cairo. “Honestly, it is a difficult task to deal with, we have an uphill battle in the return leg away from home in Egypt, but we still have a chance. I hope we can score goals over there and turn things around. We must go into the next game with a positive mindset and confidence,” Kayiranga said. The former Amavubi and Rayon Sports winger added, “We’ll need total focus. We played against a strong team, but in the return leg, we must do better than we did in first leg.” The Junior Wasps missed the services of injured first choice striker Blaise Itangishaka and defender Aman Niyonkuru due to suspension. Junior Wasps got four clear chances through skipper Dominique Savio Nshuti, Aimable Nsabimana, Abeddy Biramahire and Djabel Manishimwe but none saw the back of the net. Good goalkeeping from Bonheur Hategikimana stopped first half attempts from Egypt’s entertaining Mohame Essam and Ahmad Hamdy Husan who came close to putting the ball past the goalie. At the start of the second half, Egypt benefitted from a counter attack inspired by Akran Twkeek who connected a long ball to Taher Mohamed Ahmed to beat central defender, Nsabimana who was all alone at the back before slotting the ball past Hategikimana. Rwanda will need at least a 2-0 win in Cairo to be able to proceed to the third and final round. The winner will face the winner of the other tie between Angola and Gabon for a spot in the 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations. The tourney is scheduled to start in February 2017. The competition carries great significance as it will decide the four African teams which will go to the 2017 U-20 FIFA World Cup in South Korea. editorial@newtimes.co.rw