Thursday Rwanda 2-2 Congo Brazzaville Hosts Amavubi had to rely on substitute Justin Mico for a late equaliser as Rwanda and Republic of the Congo played out a 2-all draw at Amahoro Stadium, in Kigali, on Thursday afternoon. It was the first of two scheduled warm-up matches as both sides gear up for the upcoming African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals tournament, which starts next week in Cameroon. After going down 2-0 early in the first half, owing to defensive howlers from APR skipper Thierry Manzi, Amavubi fought back to salvage a draw ahead of the second and final warm-up game on Sunday, January 10. The visitors opened the scoring in the 11th minute through striker Obassi Bersrl after Manzi failed to clear the ball before Obassi doubled his side’s lead in the 27th minute. Two minutes later, Rwanda pulled one back thanks to a powerful header from Martin Fabrice Twizerimana before his Police FC teammate Mico tapped in a rebound after some hard work from Bertrand Iradukunda to rescue a draw for the hosts in the 87th minute. Skipper Jacques Tuyisenge, who was taken off in the second-half, could have netted an equaliser five minutes before the break but his effort narrowly went wide. After Sunday’s match, Amavubi will fly to Cameroon the following day for the 6th CHAN tournament, which runs from January 16 through February 7. Vincent Mashami’s side will have an uphill task of advancing to the knockouts, starting from the quarter-finals, which will require them to finish among the top two teams in Group C that also comprises holders Morocco, neighbours Uganda and debutants Togo. Rwanda will begin its campaign against Uganda Cranes on January 18, before facing Morocco and Togo on January 22 and 26, respectively. Featuring in the second biggest African football competition for a fourth time, Rwanda has only made it past the group stage once, when the country hosted the tournament in 2016.
