Rwanda to play England in opener

June 19Rwanda vs England June 22Uruguay vs Rwanda June 25Canada vs Rwanda THE national U-17 football team needs to repeat the magic that saw them reach the final of the Caf U-17 championship after drawing world football power houses England and Uruguay in the upcoming Fifa U-17 World Cup in Mexico. The Junior Wasps open their campaign against England at the famous Hidalgo stadium before playing Uruguay three days later. Their final group game is against Canada. Despite rising up to 6th in last month’s Fifa world rankings, England did not qualify for the last edition in Nigeria (2009), but were quarter finalists in 2007. Going by recent statistics, Uruguay is the biggest threat. The South Americans reached the quarter-finals in Nigeria only to lose to Spain on penalty shoot-outs. Canada has not taken part in the last three world U-17 tournaments. Richard Tardy’s boys are scheduled to fly to Frankfurt tomorrow where they will play friendlies against Koln U-18 (May 22) and Fortuna Düsseldorf U-18 next Wednesday. The national football federation’s Chief Executive Officer Jules Kalisa told Times Sport that much as Rwanda’s opponents have been around for some time, the Junior Wasps will take comfort in the fact that most of the players are making their debut in the event. “They (Rwanda’s opponents) are all big teams in world football but we should also remember that it is the first appearance for most of their players,” Kalisa said. Switzerland won the last tournament but failed to qualify for this year’s showpiece which will be held in Mexico. Group A Mexico, Korea DPR, Netherlands, Congo Brazzaville Group B Japan, Jamaica, France, Argentina Group C Uruguay, Canada, Rwanda, England Group D USA, Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, New Zealand Group E Burkina Faso, Panama, Germany, Ecuador Group F Australia, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Denmark. Ends

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Rwanda to play England in opener