‘We’ll be better

Captain Jean Marie Ntagwabira believes his side will be much better next season with higher chances of winning some silverware than it has been in the previous two campaigns. The Atraco Fc interim coach hopes to benefit from his rivals’ involvement in Caf competitions to stake a major challenge for silverware. As rivals APR Fc and Rayon Sports will be involved in up to four competitions, Atraco won’t have much to worry about as they have only the local league and cup competitions to play for. In additions to the national league and Amahoro Cup, APR and Rayon will compete in the regional Cecafa/Kagame Cup as well as the MTN Africa Champions League and Confederations Cup respectively. “We don’t have a lot to fight for next season so we shall go into the new season believing that we have more chances to win something than ever before,” Ntagwabira acknowledged recently. He noted, “We only have the league and Amahoro Cup to play for, so that leaves us with less fatigue and more concentration that our rivals.” Atraco have missed out on winning some silverware on more than two occasions since gaining promotion to topflight division two seasons ago. In their debut season, the taxi-men side lost 1-0 to APR in the Amahoro Cup final, a game they dominated throughout before defender Bonaventure Hategekimana ‘gifted’ his former employers with a chance that resulted in their late winner. To further their misery, the military side went on to pip their rivals, who by then were coached by Ex-Ugandan international Sam Ssimbwa, to the league title by just a point on the very last day of the season. In the same season, they lost to St. George of Ethiopia in the Cecafa/Kagame Cup third place play offs. APR won the title after defeating URA of Uganda 2-1 in the final. Last season, under Ntagwabira, Atraco again lost 1-0 to APR in the final of Amahoro Cup and finished third in the league, three points adrift of the champions APR who finished the season level on 59 points with Rayon. Atraco are believed to have a greed terms with seven players released last week by their rivals and Ntagwabira is looking forward to working with them to upset their former employers. The seven include; Shaka Okello, Andre Lomami, Jean Shyaka, Manfred Kizito, Alimansi Kadogo, Yussuf Kayihura and Vincent Kayiizi. Ends

Lifestyle

‘We’ll be better