Rayon coach eyes Caf cup quarter finals

Rayon Sports head coach Andy Magloire Mfutila is eyeing a quarterfinal place at the 2015 Caf Confederation Cup which starts next month. The Congolese tactician who took over at the Nyanza based club last month believes that the Blues can make the last eight of the continental showpiece despite a slow start. To achieve that target, Mfutila, who has returned from a scouting mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, wants to bring in new players when the transfer window opens in January. “We want to do our best to get to the last eight of the Caf Confederations Cup and it is possible because we are working on playing together as a unit on offense and defense and this will increase the players’ confidence,” Mfutila said. The Confederation of African Football (Caf) is yet to release the draws for next year’s edition. However Mfutila would rather not face North and West African teams in the early stages because they always present a tough contest. “I am hoping we are drawn with a team from east and southern Africa in the preliminary round,” admitted Mfutila. During his reign at APR in the 2007/2008 season, Mfutila guided APR to a 2-1 win against FC Saint Louis Lupopo in Lubumbashi before registering a comfortable 2-0 triumph in Kigali in the preliminary round of the Caf Champions League. In the next round, APR beat Togo’s Maranatha 2-0 but the West Africans overturned the result in Fiokpo winning 3-0 to eliminate the military side. In 2008, APR was eliminated at the preliminary round after losing both home (2-1) and away (2-0) to five-time African champions Zamalek of Egypt. No Rwandan club has reached the quarterfinals of either the Caf Champions League or Caf Confederation Cup. However, last year AS Kigali reached the third round of the latter tournament under the guidance of former tactician Andre Cassa Mbungo. Last year, Rayon Sports were eliminated in the first round of the CAF Champions League by Congolese side AC Leopards. The Blues forced a goalless draw in Kinshasa but blew a 2-0 lead at the Amahoro stadium as the Congolese outfit netted twice in less than five minutes.