Women team kicks off World Cup preps

Fifa U-20 World Cup qualifierPreliminary RoundOct. 24Uganda v Rwanda RWANDA’s junior women football team kicked off their 2011 Fifa U-20 World Cup preparations yesterday at Nyamirambo’s Regional Stadium. The team will engage the She-Cranes of Uganda in the preliminary round of the qualifiers on October 24 before hosting the side in a return leg two weeks later. A provisional squad of 36 players turned up for yesterday’s training under the tutelage of Grace Nyinawumuntu (head coach), Innocent Seninga (assistant coach) and Spier Andreas (technical advisor). According to Nyinawumuntu, who helped AS Kigali win last season’s league title, the team will be slashed down to 20 at the end of this week. She also said that technically, the team has an edge over their Ugandan opponents. “We have had a competitive league for the last two years which gives us a slight advantage over Uganda which does not have one.” After the two-legged contest, the winner between Uganda and Rwanda will go on to play Zambia, one of eleven teams to get byes in the first preliminary round. The others include Botswana, Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, DR Congo, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. Sixteen teams will compete at the World Cup finals. Two-time world champions Germany are automatic qualifiers as hosts. Ends

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Women team kicks off World Cup preps