Tuesday Egypt vs Uganda (12:00) Algeria vs Rwanda (2PM) Nigeria vs Kenya (4PM) Morocco vs Cameroon (6PM) RWANDA has a mountain to climb ahead of Tuesday’s quarterfinal clash against Algeria as the 2023 Women’s African Nations Championship enters the knockout stages. Paulo de Tarso’s side have a tough test to overcome the Northern African opponents, who finished in third place of Group A, in a match that will take place at Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex for them to book a ticket to the semifinals for the first time in the country’s history. Despite losing 3-2 to Morocco in the last group match on Sunday, Rwanda qualified for the quarterfinals after finishing second in Group B behind table leaders Kenya. In what will be their very first appearance in the quarterfinals of the tournament, captain Valentine Munezero is full of confidence in her team for the challenge awaiting them on Tuesday. “Our target is to win our game against Algeria, we are happy to reach the quarterfinals but we haven’t finished the job yet. We are going to make sure that we reach the next stage. Players and staff are ready to give their best,” the APR left attacker told Times Sport in an interview. “Algeria is one of the good teams in Africa and it is going to be a big match. We have no other choice but to face them and look for better results,” she added. Also read: Rwanda out to maintain winning form ahead of Burkina Faso duel However, the Rwandan team will need to be aggressive, especially from the start, if they need to win the game. Rwanda will need to keep their pace throughout the match and pile pressure on the Algerians with sharp services, attacks, defense and tight blocks. A win on Tuesday would see Rwanda reach the semifinals for the very first time in history and De Tarso is looking forward to something special from the clash. “Winning is a process and it’s important to play such matches. In the group stages we played good matches, we will use the match for new challenges and get experience,” the Brazilian tactician said. “This team has learned a lot from the tournament. We learned that we should fight until the end no matter who we play against. The players’ mindset towards the game and competitions has changed a lot and I think we are now a better team than before. We are ready for the next match, he added. If Rwanda overcome Algeria, tournament favorites Egypt could be their potential opponent in the semifinals. In the other quarterfinal fixtures, Kenya will face Nigeria and Morocco will take on host Cameroon while Uganda has an insurmountable task to eliminate Egypt. For the classification matches, Mali will face Lesotho while Burundi will take on Burkina Faso. Also read: Rwanda Women pick first win in African Volleyball Champ A total of 12 teams are taking part in the tournament including hosts Cameroon, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Egypt, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda. Home side Cameroon are looking to defend the trophy they won in 2021 in Kigali, Rwanda, after beating Kenya 3-1 sets (25-21, 25-23, 15 -25 and 25-23) in the final.
