Home Sports It’s a Must Win against Ethiopia, says Amavubi Coach Hey

It’s a Must Win against Ethiopia, says Amavubi Coach Hey

by Bonnie Mugabe
7:04 pm

Amavubi head coach Antoine Hey

Rwanda men’s senior football, Amavubi head coach Antoine Hey has stated that Sunday’s return leg against Ethiopia is a must win final for his side as he seeks to guide the nation to 2018 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) finals due in Morocco.

Speaking to media on Saturday after Amavubi’s final training session at Stade de Kigali, the German-born tactician said, “We are playing Ethiopia in a final match on Sunday. We want to win this match, we are not thinking about the first leg or the result or anything else,”

“We are playing at home and we know we are strong at home with our people behind us and it will be difficult for any team to come here and beat us in our own backyard. We have seen this against Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.”

“With midfielder Djihad Bizimana suspended for the return leg, we hope to pick a potential replacement among the options that we have in Ally Niyonzima and Olivier Niyonzima. We will keep the same system, same style and our aim is to win this game,” added Hey.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia arrived in Kigali on Friday evening with a 27-man delegation, led by head coach Ashenafi Bekele, and is being accommodated at Ubumwe Hotel located in the heart of Kigali City.

The Walia Ibex is training on Saturday afternoon at Stade de Kigali ahead of Sunday’s game where they will be gunning for a win over Rwanda to proceed to next year’s CHAN final.

Rwanda needs a goalless draw on Sunday to be able to qualify to next year’s finals tournament, which will be their third, following 2011 in Sudan and last year in Kigali.

The match will be handled by Somaliland referees, Mohamed Hagi, Hamza Hagi Abdi, Salah Omar Abukar and Bashir Olad Arab, while Burundian Aimable Habimana will be the match commissioner.

The away win puts Amavubi in a commanding position to qualify to next year’s tournament which is reserved for players featuring in their respective domestic championships.