Who will be the next Amavubi boss?

AS Rwanda national football team goes into their last Group H Africa Nations’ qualifier away to Benin on Sunday, question remains on who will succeed Ghanaian, Sellas Tetteh as the head coach of Amavubi Stars. Tetteh, who had won the Fifa U-20 World Cup title in Egypt two years ago, resigned early last month after Rwanda lost helplessly to Cote d’Ivoire 0-5 which went into record as the country’s biggest home defeat. Other major defeats had occurred in 1976 during a 0-5 loss to Cameroon, 1983’s 0-5 loss to Tunisia and the 1999’s 0-5 loss to neighbors Uganda. In his reign, Tetteh qualified Rwanda to the second edition of Africa Nations’ Championship (CHAN) in Khartoum, Sudan where the wasps bowed out of the competition in the preliminary round. He then failed to progress past the quarter final of the Cecafa Challenge Cup after a 1-0 loss to Tanzania last December. Then in the qualification campaign to the 2012 Africa Nations’ Cup, his services have failed to yield positive results for Amavubi. He left Rwanda struggling bottom of Group H with three points in five matches played. And now with Tetteh out, who is likely to succeed him? I will take you through all the interested candidates, who are interested managing the national team and who is favourite to take up the position if the government of Rwanda through the sports ministry meets his demands upon the recommendation from the football federation, Ferwafa. The coaches that have so far expressed their desire to succeed Tetteh include; Eric Nshimiyimana (Rwandan), Thomas Higiro (Rwandan), Jean Marie Ntagwabira (Rwandan), Antoine Rustindura (Rwandan), Bordoli Livio (Swiss), Peter James Butler (British), Roberto Alejandro Rodrigo (Argentinean), Ratomir Dujkovic (Serbo-Croatian), Stewart Hall (British), Others are; Patrice Neveu (French),Dragoslav Stepanovic (Serbian), Chris Sarramagna (French), Gomes Da Rosa Didier (French),Tomislav Obradovic (Croatian), Milutin Micho Sredojevic (Serbian), Stefano Cusin (Italian),Goran Miscevic (Serbo-Croatian), Siegfried Bahner (Germany),Tom Saintfiet (Belgium), Adel Amrouche (Algerian), Tosi Noel (French), Stephen Okechukwu Keshi (Nigerian),Branko Smiljanic (Serbian) and Zoran M. Djordjevic (Serbia). All these are experienced coaches who have even handled national teams for different countries and guided them to different milestones. But what do we want from the next coach even before we get to who merits the post? First and foremost, the next coach should have an extensive career and be well conversant with African football. Rwanda has no plenty of good players on the senior level but they are many raw talents out there in the villages and whoever comes on board should be a given a long term contract to first detect and tap those raw talents and elevate their standards. I believe one of the factors that have forced the senior team to perform worse in African competitions is the negligence of not tapping grassroots footballers at an early stage and forgetting that the current players are worn out to handle the task. Both the government and football federation should give the job to someone who has the potential to help local footballers realize their dreams of playing for professional clubs across the world, a feat which will improve on their experience and help them gain more exposure by playing at the professional level. Another factor which goes hand in hand with grassroots football is the ability to select a coach who has a substantial vision for Rwandan football. Tetteh seemed to fit that bill, unfortunately results didn’t his cause any much favour. Since 1972, Amavubi has been handled by nine foreign coaches on a permanent contract basis and two local coaches on an interim basis. They include; Otto Pfister (1972-1976), Metin Türel (1991), Rudi Gutendorf (1999-2000), Ratomir Dujkovic (2001-2004), Roger Palmgren (2004-2005), Michael Nees (2006-2007), Josip Kuze (2007-2008), Raoul Shungu (2008) (interim), Branko Tucak (2008-2009), Eric Nshimiyimana (2009-2010, 2011) (interim) and Sellas Tetteh (2010-2011). Among these coaches, Ratomir is the only coach who left a major landmark for the national team after he guided the Amavubi team to 2004 Tunis Nations’ Cup finals. However, I cannot fail to commend Roger Palmegren and Tetteh, who seemed focused on elevating football at grassroots level a feat which helped the local football fraternity to see new footballers being drafted into the national team. The local coaches Shungu and Nshimiyimana with their experience have managed to ensure that the pride of the national team is maintained. I remember in 2009, Nshimiyimana who was assisted by Emmanuel Ruremesha and Thomas Higiro without even being favored to do so, helped the national team to reach the final of the Cecafa Challenge Cup in Nairobi losing to Uganda 2-0. This should have been a lesson for us to learn from and trust our local coaches but none even realized that fact. When you see a crop of players whom they had selected and the results they yielded, then this should teach us to always trust and believe in our local coaches. Just like politics has continued to be played in our local football, the responsible parties offered to bring on Tetteh who had won the U-20 Fifa world cup with Ghana. Who is favourite for the job? [Eric] Nshimiyimana Starting from the local scene, Nshimiyimana, a former Amavubi midfielder and assistant skipper, who guided the team to 2004 Tunis Africa Cup of Nations has been in the coaching role for the national team since 2007. He worked under Kuze, Tucak, Michael Nees and Tetteh. He is among the right choices to handle the national team considering his experience and competence. He has been an interim head coach from 2009-10 and 2011 following Branko and Tetteh’s exits. He has proven to be the right man for the Amavubi but this has been realized by a few. After guiding Amavubi to 2009 Cecafa final, playing some eye-catching football and being interested in the job most especially when Rwanda plays to Benin in the next 24 hours, shows determination and confidence that the former APR and Kiyovu towering midfielder holds. [Ratomir] Dujkovic Dujkovic’s foray into coaching has seen him manage different national teams. He managed Galenika Zemun (1992–1995), Venezuela (1996–1997), Myanmar (1997–1998), Rwanda (2004–2006), Ghana (2006–2008), China U-23 (2009–2010), Serbia U-21 (2009-10) and Syria (2010). He helped Venezuela avoid last place in Copa America for the first time in a very long period which saw jump 29 places on the FIFA list. In 2006, he helped Ghana record their maiden appearance to the World Cup finals in Germany, and then progressed to the second round before being eliminated by Brazil in the quarter final stage. He was then nominated as the ninth coach in the world by Fifa after the Germany world cup. From 2002-03, he was appointed head coach of Amavubi team. He was then nominated coach of the year in the same year on the African continent. In 2004, he helped Rwanda qualify for the Tunis Africa Cup of nations and this increased Rwanda’s Fifa ranking by 19 places. Rwanda went on finish third ahead of DR Congo and behind Tunisia and Guinea. Emerging from the horrors of genocide, football provided a welcome distraction for the people of Rwanda. Amavubi won 7 of its first 18 matches under Dujkovic’s guidance. Dujkovic’s contract with Rwanda expired in mid-2004 and he left after failure to agree a new one with Rwandan FA. Patrice Neveu Neveu who is a French football coach and former player has been the manager of the DR Congo national side in April 2008. After retiring as a player, Neveu has managed both club and national sides. He began his career in France with club sides Vendee Fontenay Foot and Angouleme CFC, before becoming manager of the Niger national side in 1999. He then returned to club football with Medenine, Dalian Shide and Zuhai before returning to international level with the Guinea national side, which he managed from 2004 to 2006 and helped them move 92 places on the Fifa rankings. He then managed Ismaily in Egypt from February to August 2007. He became manager of the DR Congo national side in April 2008. He is an experienced coach whose vision is always focused on tapping raw talents and helping potential players realize their dreams of turning into professional footballers. Milutin [Micho] Sredojevic Most of his successes have been recorded on the club level but his prowess can also be vital for our national team. His biggest challenge is with Al-Hilal winning the African Champions League title, the most lucrative clubs competition in the African continent, which has been the ultimate dream of Al-Hilal supporters. On his debut last year, Al Hilal thrashed Zimbabwean club Caps United 5-0 in the CAF Confederation Cup competition. Under the management of Micho, Al-Hilal won the Sudanese league title in 2010, and qualified to the semi-final of the Confederation competition before losing to CS Sfaxien of Tunisia in a thriller penalty kicks. He has also guided St George, Orlando Pirates, SC Villa and Young Africans to different glorious memories. Adel Amrouche The Algerian born tactician is the current head coach of Burundi national team. Amrouche began his managerial career in 1988 by coaching the youth ranks of local club OMR El Annasser while playing for the senior team. He held the same role during his playing stints with USM Alger and RC Kouba. In 2002, he was appointed as the manager of Congolese club Daring Club Motema Pembe. In 2007, Amrouche became the coach of the Burundi national football team. On January 1, 2011, Amrouche turned down an offer to take over the vacant managerial role of Algerian club ES Setif, preferring to continue in his role with the Burundi national team. He has done a lot to elevate the level of Burundian football and he deals mainly with upcoming players, goes deep in the grassroots unearthing players and being able to find clubs for most of their national team players abroad is an added aspect of why Rwanda should recruit him. Stephen [Okechukwu] Keshi An important player for Nigeria, Keshi was captain of the squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup and played in five different African Nations Cup tournaments, helping to win the 1994 African Nations Cup. Keshi was part of the coaching staff for the Nigerian national team, most notably as head coach for the Junior Eagles at the 2004 Olympic soccer tournament. Between 2004 and 2006 Keshi coached the Togo national football team, unexpectedly bringing them to their first World Cup tournament, Germany 2006. Having secured Togo’s unlikely qualification, he was promptly replaced by German coach Otto Pfister prior to the World Cup finals, after Togo showed a dismal performance and failed to advance to the tournament stage in 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt. However, Pfister did not last beyond a controversial World Cup campaign that nearly resulted in a player’s strike over pay and Togo remained without a manager until February 2007 when they re-engaged Keshi in time for a friendly against Cameroon. He worked as manager of the Mali national football team and qualified them to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations where they never exceeded past the group stages. His experience and expertise can help Amavubi conquer Africa if he is given room o implement his vision. bonnex10@yahoo.co.uk