175 DAYS TO GO: Amavubi, Nigeria U23 friendly cancelled

Rwanda’s friendly match against the Nigeria U23 football team scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at Amahoro Stadium has been cancelled following financial constraints on the West African nation’s side. The Dream Team had earlier requested to stop over in Kigali for a challenge before they take on Congo Brazzaville in the CAF U-23 Championship/Rio 2016 Olympic Games return leg qualifier set for August 2 in Brazzaville. “Nigeria approached us about two weeks ago to play our U23 side but we went back to them and said, look we have no U23 games coming up so we can only feature our CHAN team and they agreed. However, a logistical problem on their side has forced them to withdraw from the encounter and they have apologized for it,” explained Johnny McKinstry, head coach of Amavubi. Meanwhile, the Amavubi locally based players who have been in residential camp since Sunday evening underwent a high performance fitness test yesterday under the close eye of McKinstry and his assistants Emmanuel Ruremesha and former Amavubi legend Jimmy Mulisa. In a bid to test their ability to withstand high intensity sessions that will in the future come into play during games, yesterday’s drills challenged the players and exposed their lack of core strength that comes into play at the high level that will be displayed during CHAN which is six months away. The Irish tactician said he was nevertheless impressed with them, “They did okay although I noticed that they opted to do long distance medium-paced runs which are the wrong thing because football is a high intensity game and is explosive for few minutes of the game. It is not a marathon.” The side is expected to partake in a light training session this morning at Amahoro Stadium as they recuperate and continue preparations for the continental showpiece slated for January 16-February 7. Amavubi CHAN team will face South Africa’s U23 side on July 28 in Johannesburg with the latter preparing for the CAF U23 Championship/Rio 2016 Olympic Games return leg fixture against Zimbabwe on the weekend of July 31-August 2.

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175 DAYS TO GO: Amavubi, Nigeria U23 friendly cancelled