Amavubi team can sting Mali Eagles

Early this week, Serb Amavubi Stars head coach Sredojovic ‘Micho’ Milutin named a 24-man squad to face Mali next Sunday in a crucial 2014 World Cup qualifier at Amahoro stadium.The team is comprised of 14 local players and 10 players plying their trade in Africa and Europe. After making a full assessment of the players in the Primus league, African clubs and European based, Micho assembled what he sees as the best there is to pick from for the upcoming do or die game.Though, a section of the local media has criticized the team selection as well as undermining the team’s hopes of earning maximum points against a star-studded Mali side, I still believe Amavubi have a fighting chance to get a result on March 24.Having deeply analyzed each player per position, I think we have a decent team, so the task is on the coach and his technical staff to do the needful to ensure the wasps are ready and in the mood to sting the Eagles.I honestly believe Rwanda has nothing to lose in facing Mali, who secured their second successive third place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations.Our record has been poor in the recent past but football is a funny game and if our players are committed to the cause, they can go all out to win the match.Rwanda is bottom of Group H with one point from their opening two matches and faces an uphill task to qualify for the next stage.The pressure will be on Mali especially having finished third at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, and we will go into the match as underdogs. Everybody will be looking at how Mali perform, especially this being their first competitive match after the 2013 Afcon finals.All Micho needs to do is to prepare well his troops well enough, physically and mentally in the remaining two weeks, and after that, there is every possibility that we can get a positive result. The team needs to post good performance and result against Libya in the friendly match on Wednesday in order to build up momentum and confidence ahead of next weekend’s qualifier. Against Mali, who will be led by their inspiring skipper Seydou Keita, who plays for Dalian Aerbin in China, Amavubi players need to concentrate on doing the basics. Don’t give Mali players too much space; key players need to rise to the occasion while strikers need to fight for every chance.Micho must put more emphasis on his defence as well as training the strikers to take their chances, however few they may be—even half chances should be fought for as if life depended on that.Coaches are judged on results in most cases, and at times, on their ability to lift their players up from defeat and get them ready for a win. This is what Micho has to do.He lost the opening match against Algeria but drew against Benin and everyone should know that desperate times call for desperate measures, and that is how desperate Amavubi team will be when they take on Mali.Fans should learn to be loyal and stop booing Amavubi players because their support is vital.Come next Sunday, Micho and his players must do everything possible to have fans on their side throughout the match. This is the game in which the Serb must show Amavubi supports whether his contract deserves a renewal when it expires in October.This qualifier will determine if he gets a contract extension or simply serve his existing one before leaving like most of his predecessors.