Rwanda interim coach Jimmy Mulisa - Photo Courtesy Rwanda FA.
Rwanda interim coach Jimmy Mulisa is confident Amavubi will overturn the first leg defeat suffered at the hands of South Sudan to book their place in the 2024 Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) tournament.
The Amavubi are facing a tall order having suffered a 3-2 defeat against the Bright Stars in the first leg played at Juba International Stadium. It means Rwanda must beat South Sudan by a huge margin to be assured of a ticket to the tournament to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Speaking ahead of the return leg battle, Mulisa believes they still stand a chance to qualify since they will be playing at home. “It will be a tough game, but we still have a chance to qualify, we need to play better than we did in Juba, we need to press them from the onset and defend well to get the ticket,” Mulisa told Pan-Africa Football.
“We have prepared well for the game, after the first leg defeat we had a few areas that needed improvement, we have worked on the weak areas, we don’t want to concede goals like it was in Juba, we want to be as tight as possible at the back, so that we count on the goals we will score.”
Mulisa added: “The first leg we created several chances but couldn’t score, we had five clear chances and could have scored five goals. I have told my strikers what to do knowing what is at stake, so we believe we have done everything that is required to face South Sudan.”
Mulisa’s sentiments were echoed by captain Kevin Muhire, who remained optimistic of qualifying for the CHAN tournament, which is reserved for players playing in their respective local leagues.
“We are aware of how tough the game is going to be but we will be playing only looking for a win. So we have to be ready and use the opportunity to play CHAN again,” said Muhire.
The 2024 CHAN competition which is the 8th edition will be hosted in East Africa by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from February 1 to February 28, 2025.
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