We deserved a draw - defender Nirisarike

Group H Sunday Mauritius 1-0 Mozambique Saturday Rwanda 0-1 Ghana Group A Liberia 1 - 0 Tunisia Group C South Sudan 1 - 0 Eq. Guinea Group D Comoros 0 - 1 UgandaBotswana 1 - 0 Burkina Faso Group E Guinea-Bissau 2 - 4 Congo Group F Sao Tome 0 - 3 Morocco Group G Tanzania 0 - 0 Nigeria Group J Seychelles 1 - 1 Ethiopia Group K Burundi 2 - 0 NigerNamibia 0 - 2 Senegal Group M Mauritania 3 - 1 South Africa Amavubi StarS center back Salomon Nirisarike has said that the national team deserved at least a point from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ghana on Saturday at Amahoro Stadium. The home team displayed good football for 85 minutes against a star-studded Black Stars side before paying the ultimate price after a drop in concentration levels when midfielder Mubarak Wakaso netted from a free-kick which gave Avran Grant’s side three points. However, Nirisarike, who plays for Belgian second division club Sint-Truidense believes Amavubi still have a good chance to go through to Gabon finals tournament in second place, behind Ghana. “We played a very good game but unfortunately we didn’t create enough scoring chances. We have shown that we have the capacity to play on a high level against big teams, which is very important,” he said after the match. The former Isonga FC player noted that, “We can still qualify because we’re capable of getting points in the remaining four matches.” Amavubi remain second in the group with three points. Nirisarike and his partner in central defence, Emery Bayisenga, had a good game, dealing with every threat from Ghana forwards, Andre Ayew, Jordan Ayew, Richmond Boakye-Yiadom and Christian Atsu. “We knew Ghana would give us a hard time and I think we did a good job to restrict their chances in-front of our goal. Unfortunately, we could not hold on for the whole 90 minutes. For a defender, it feels really bad to concede in the last minutes, but at the same time, we needed to score goals at the other end, because at end of the day, goals win matches,” he explained. Meanwhile, Amavubi coach Jonathan Mckinstry has said that his side played well from defense to the striking force but failed to score. “We will do good preparations for the next games because we are capable of beating anyone. We were close to getting very good points but it was unfortunate that we failed but we will try to do better in the next games. We can still take second place,” noted the 30-year Northern Irish tactician. Rwanda’s next tie will be an away game against Mauritius on March 25, while Ghana will host Mozambique a day later. Mauritius picked up their first three points on Sunday with a narrow 1-0 win at home against Mozambique, with the lone goal coming from Louis Pithia in the 51st minute. Group H Team PD W D L GD PtsGhana 2 2 0 0 7 6Rwanda 2 1 0 1 0 3Mauritius 2 1 0 1 -5 3Mozambique 2 0 0 2 -2 0 editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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We deserved a draw - defender Nirisarike