Kigali: The Walias of Ethiopia arrived in the country on Thursday afternoon for the return leg clash against Rwanda’s Amavubi in the third round of the 2020 Africa Nations Championship qualifiers.
Rwanda hosts Ethiopia in the return leg on Saturday, 15:00 at Stade de Kigali in Kigali City. The Mashami Vincent coached side will go into the game with a 1-0 lead courtesy of Sugira Ernest earned from last month’s first-leg, in Ethiopia.
Coach Abraham Mebratu manages the Ethiopian team, which has booked in at Hill Top Hotel in Remera. Mebratu told the press upon the team’s arrival at Kigali International Airport that he still believes much more is at play in the remaining 90 minutes of the game hence has not ruled out completely his team reaching the final continental tournament.
“We lost the first leg at home but we have high hopes in the remaining 90 minutes that we can still make an impact. We had two key players who missed the first leg and will be available for the return leg. Basically, it’s going to be a different game, so we wait and see how it will go,” added Mebratu.
Unbeaten in their last five matches, in all competitions, a goalless draw will be enough for Rwanda to book a ticket to the CHAN finals tournament for a third successive time – and fourth overall – after six editions of Africa’s second-biggest football tournament.
Ahead of Saturday’s do-or-die affair against the Walias of Ethiopia, Mashami has admitted that “it is going to be a highly charged game” but backed his players to put up a strong performance and get ‘the result that every Rwandan expects’ on home soil.
“The friendly game against Tanzania was a good test. Now we know where to exert more force in training,” Mashami told reporters early this week.
He added that, “I believe we have the necessary quality and talent. And, I also think I don’t need to remind my players of how much the game (against Ethiopia) means to us as a team and as a country.”
“The target is not to hold on to the first-leg lead, but rather to fight for another victory.”
Since the inception of CHAN in 2009, Rwanda has only missed the inaugural edition and the 2014 tournament, making its debut in 2011 before hosting the 2016 showpiece and qualifying for the fifth edition, hosted and won by Morocco, last year.
However, the country’s best performance in the tournament only remains reaching the quarterfinals in 2016. Amavubi bowed out from the group stage at the 2011 and 2018 editions. (End)