Rwanda women’s national team head coach André Casa Mbungo was left frustrated after a late disallowed goal denied his side a chance to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games alive against Ethiopia. Rwanda drew 1-1 with Ethiopia in the return leg in Dire Dawa on Tuesday, but the result was not enough to overturn their first-leg defeat in Kigali, leaving them eliminated from the qualifiers. However, the final scoreline did not tell the full story of a dramatic finish. With the tie finely poised, Rwanda pushed forward in search of a decisive goal and thought they had found it in the closing moments when Ishimwe Mizero found the net. However, the referee disallowed the effort, sparking protests from the Rwandan bench. Mbungo was left fuming over the decision, arguing that the goal should have stood and that Rwanda had done enough to force their way back into contention. “We played a good match. We scored two goals and, if the referee had done his job properly today, we would have reached the next stage,” Mbungo said after the game. “We made mistakes in Kigali, but we corrected them. We prepared well and set up a plan to beat Ethiopia, which we achieved, but the referee made mistakes that took away our goal.” Despite his frustration with the officiating, Mbungo acknowledged that Rwanda had also paid the price for failing to secure a positive result in the first leg at home. The coach, however, believes the experience will serve as an important lesson as Rwanda seek to build a more competitive women’s national team. “It’s an experience we gained, and we must not give up. We have to find ways to prepare well in the future because, for the girls, it requires proper and gradual preparation to build for the future,” he said. Mbungo added that his long-term ambition is to develop a squad capable of competing at a higher level over the coming years. “We are preparing a team for the next five years because we have both young and senior players, so the future looks bright,” he said. Rwanda’s Olympic qualifying campaign has therefore ended in disappointment, although their performance in Dire Dawa offered some encouragement for the future. Nevertheless, Mizero’s late disallowed goal will remain a major talking point from the tie, as Rwanda came close to rescuing their campaign but ultimately fell short of progressing to the next round.
