Just as grass withers and finally fades away in the dry season, 2021 is definitely at its twilight and in just two and half weeks, it will be embedded in history as we usher in a new year. Certainly, in Rwandan football circles, 2021 will be a year that pundits and the main actors in the game who are the players and administrators would want to easily forget due to the abysmal performance of the national team and the clubs in African club competitions. In reminiscence, the years 2003 and 2004 where APR got into the group stages of the CAF cup winners’ cup and the Amavubi made it to the AFCON for the first time in history can be tagged as the highest point ever in Rwanda football. The Army side were just one game away from playing in the then prestigious CAF winners’ Cup final whereas the Amavubi also pulled a masterstroke by qualifying for the AFCON in Tunisia ahead of four-time champions Ghana. Former Amavubi striker Jimmy Gatete during a match in the Africa nations cup of 2004. Photo: Courtesy. However, since that era, Rwandan football has not been consistent, there has been no progress, things have been stagnant and the performance of the clubs in Africa competitions and the national team keeps deteriorating every year. The ugly specter of internal machinations, poor planning and lack of consistent youth competitions are the reasons why football in Rwanda has been brought to its knees since the golden era of 2003 and 2004. This year, the only achievement the country could boast of is reaching the quarter finals of a CAF second-tier tournament which is the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) in Cameroon in January. The Amavubi could only pick one point from a 2022 world cup qualifying Group comprising Mali, Kenya and neighbors Uganda. They scored just two goals and conceded nine. It is an undeniable fact coaching has been a major problem for the Amavubi, Vincent Mashami has not lived up to expectations since being appointed in 2018. His contract expires in February 2022 and many football pundits concur that his term as Amavubi coach will not be extended. Football is not static, it is dynamic. No one should be deceived that Rwanda does not have quality football talents. If countries like Equatorial Guinea are now making it in football by qualifying for AFCON tournaments and others, why not the Amavubi? Yes! You cannot compare the Rwandan league to others on the continent in terms of quality but there are avenues to get quality players of Rwandan origin to add up to the few good local talents such as Lague Byiringiro, Djabel Manishimwe, Muhadjiri Hakizimana and the likes of Abdul Rwatubyaye, Djihad Bizimana, Ange Mutsinzi, Emmanuel Imanishimwe and others who are playing at a good level abroad. The success story of Equatorial Guinea in football should be a guideline for Rwanda, this is a country whose local league is not even ranked among the best 40 leagues in Africa, the quality in their local league is not up to scratch, but they have embarked on serious scouting and have recruited every player abroad who has even a pinch of Equatorial Guinean blood in him and per FIFA rules is eligible to play for the nation and it is working magic for them. Out of the 30 players they used to qualify for the next AFCON in Cameroon, 20 of them were from the country’s origin but were born in Spain. An extensive scouting mission they did really helped them as they got their men scattered in the diaspora to mix with the good local ones to build a winning squad. Times Sport has been looking at a host of young Rwandan players that the national football federation can scout and convince to play for the national team. Players such as Goalkeeper Maxime Wenssens of Mechelen in Belgium, Jonathan Nsanzimana of Bayern Munich, Sanders Ngabo of Lyngby, Sven Kalisa of FC Atert Bissen and a host of others are good young players who can help resurrect the Amavubi. Again in the sphere of Africa club competitions, it has not been encouraging as no Rwandan club has ever made it to the group stages of the CAF Champions League or Confederations Cup. This abounds with lack of consistency. clubs like AS Kigali, Rayon Sports offload players every season and bring in new ones. Rayon Sports in particular signed over 12 new players during the last transfer window. Maintaining players for a period of time is key, Al Ahly and others are ruling African football because of consistency. There is no wholesale or overhaul, they just bring in two or three new players every transfer window to beef up the team and to fill the loopholes. APR should maintain the players they have now as well as the coach Mohammed Erradi. Despite being eliminated from the CAF Confederations Cup by RS Berkane, they showed that with time and consistency they can be a force to reckon with on the continent. On the part of FERWAFA, they should also introduce a youth league to help nurture talents, every club must have an Under 18 team. This will help to also develop players to feed the Under 17 and 20 national teams. Youth football is crucial and remains the bedrock of every nation which aims at reaching the top. Seemingly, Rwandan football is in its dark moments currently but not all is not lost, if the right things are done in 2022, the country’s football will rise again.
