If only the Amavubi Stars can hold their nerve and get something out of the Morocco game on Sunday, chances are high that they could make it from their group into the main 2010 WC/CAN qualifying campaign. Even a draw against the North African giants would be a good result for Rwanda, which would make seven points out of nine not a bad reading for a team that has once qualified for the continent’s biggest football showpiece. But with confidence high in Amavubi camp after two back-to-back victories over Mauritania and Ethiopia, very few Rwandans would be surprised with a home win on Sunday. And with Ethiopia still to come and a visit to Mauritania, a further six points are very much a possibility. the only obstacle would be next weekend’s trip to Rabat. Nonetheless, Tucak and his team can afford to drop any points against Morocco and still make the main qualifying stage provided they don’t dither against Ethiopia (home) and Mauritania (away). In Rwanda, players can be heroes after one or two wins and total villains following a defeat or two however, if Tucak and his men maintain their impressive start to the 2010 World Cup and Africa Nations’ Cup qualifying campaign against Morocco, they’d be instant heroes. The impetus within the team seem to be there and there is no reason to think otherwise while the players appear to want do well not only to impress the coach but for themselves and the fans. One good thing for the players is that there still a lot of football to be played between now and September next year, so anyone of them has a chance to contribute to the team’s cause and also become a hero when Rwanda qualifies for CAN Angola 2010. With such an impressive start, which is somewhat surprising given the attitude the fans had toward the team’s state of affairs before Tucak took over, the coach must now focus on finishing as high as possible in the group to avoid drawing the big guns when the draws for the main qualifiers are made sometime in October. It would be a far-fetched scenario but the current Amavubi Stars team could defy odds just like they did about five years ago. Some people have already started comparing the current team to the one that qualified for CAN 2004 in Tunisia—hold on one bit, do the two teams fall in the same basket? I don’t think so but one thing for sure is that, the current team has the seeds of Ratomir’s Amavubi that punched way above their weight to become national heroes for a time being. Ends
