Head coach Mashami accepts that his side, Amavubi needs to win today’s encounter with Togo for the slot in the quarter-finals of the CHAN championship.
Rwanda’s confirmed defensive-minded approach to the game will not help them much today as they are required to defeat Togo should a slot in the quarter-final be on their CHAN championship agenda. National team head coach, Vincent Mashami said in the Pre-game press conference that the third match of the group stage against Togo will be a do or die match.
“It’s a very decisive game ahead of us, our all-round performance has been good but we lack goals which are our main objective going into this game. We are aware of their qualities with or without the ball, we need to be in our best form so that we can nullify this team. We have given all the ingredients to the players to see if they can be more decisive in the final third and we believe we will score goals,” said Mashami.
The Rwandan National team, Amavubi last scored in the FIFA international matches on 19th October 2019 against Ethiopia 1-1 in Kigali which means that Amavubi has not scored a goal in the previous seven recognized FIFA matches. It is a serious challenge for Mashami and his team who played a goalless draw in their last five games including the two they have already played in CHAN 2020, which is taking place in Cameroon.
According to reports from the camp, the coach will be playing today’s game without Bertrand Iradukunda, who picked up a knee injury in training. It is expected that Lague Byiringiro will replace him. No more changes are expected since the striker Ernest Sugira’s previous appearance against Morocco showed that he lacks fitness.
In Group C of Rwanda, all the teams still have the chance to qualify because in two rounds played, Morocco has 4 points, Togo has 3 points, Rwanda has 2 points, and Uganda has 1 point before the final round.
In the last edition in Morocco, Rwanda conceded a late goal against Libya at this stage, where a draw was enough to advance to the knockout stage. The fans and media ideally thought that Amavubi played an extremely defensive game.
In another game of Group C, Uganda will fight with Morocco at Stade de la Reunification in Douala. A draw will be enough for Morocco but Uganda needs to overcome their opponent to proceed to the quarter-finals. Uganda drew the first game against Rwanda before losing to Togo 2-1.
AMAVUBI Probable lineup against Togo: O. Kwizera (GK), F. Omborenga (RB), A. Mutsinzi (CB), T. Manzi (CB), E. Imanishimwe (LB), O. Niyonzima (DM), R. Kalisa (DM), L. Byiringiro (RM), M. Hakizimana (CAM), S. Nshuti (LM) and J. Tuyisenge (CF) in 4-2-3-1 formation.
