Amavubi midfielder tries to dribble past his teammates in Wednesday’s training session held at El Mouradi training facility in Sousse, Tunisia.
Rwanda Men’s senior team, Amavubi, will play Namibia in a closed-door friendly match on Sunday, January 7th in Sousse as part of their preparations for the Total 2018 African Nations Championship which begin on January 13 in Casablanca, Morocco.
The Amavubi team delegation arrived in Sousse, Tunisia on Tuesday and they are residing at El Mouradi Club Kantaoui. They held their training sessions on Wednesday at El Mouradi training facility under the tutelage of German-born coach Antoine Hey.
Confirming the development to KT Sports, Coach Hey said, “We have secured another friendly match against Namibia. It will be pivotal in our preparations towards CHAN tournament. It will be played behind closed doors on Sunday.”
Rwanda will also play Sudan on Saturday, January 6 in Sousse before winding their preparations with a crucial tie against Algeria on January 10.
“All players will get enough playing time in all the three friendlies that are on schedule,” Hey said.
Namibia which will face Rwanda is placed in Group B against another Cecafa nation Uganda, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire. They will play their matches in Marrakech.
Meanwhile, Amavubi began their training camp in Sousse, Tunisia on Wednesday following their arrival from Kigali on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the team trained at El Mouradi training facility located in Sousse under the guidance of head coach Antoine Hey and assistant coach Vincent Mashami and goalkeeper’s coach Higiro Thomas.
Speaking after the team’s arrival in Sousse, Coach Antoine said, “The players arrived on Tuesday after a very long trip from Kigali via Doha. The trip was very tiring, so we couldn’t train on that very day. We just reached the hotel, getting used to the environment, held a short meeting,”
“We had two training sessions on Wednesday, and we will continue on Thursday and Friday, then play the arranged friendly matches on Saturday against Sudan and on Sunday, we will play against Namibia behind closed doors before playing the most important friendly match against Algeria next Wednesday, January 10.”
“We have all players ready, no injuries, no worries. The atmosphere in camp is as usual, very disciplined and focused and professional. We hope that we don’t get injuries or setbacks as we work on our final pieces of getting the team ready for CHAN tournament,” added Coach Antoine.
Rwanda is using the training camp to be in good shape for CHAN tournament where they will face Libya, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea in Group C whose venue is in Tanger, Morocco.
The Africa Nations Championship will attract Morocco, Mauritania, Guinea, Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire, Namibia, Zambia, Uganda, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Rwanda, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville.
Rwanda Amavubi Fixtures (Group C)
Rwanda vs Nigeria – 15 January 2018 (Tangier)
Rwanda vs Equatorial Guinea – 19 January 2018 (Tangier)
Rwanda vs Libya – 23 January 2018 (Tangier)
Below is the Amavubi program in Tunisia:
Thursday, January 4, 2018: Two training sessions (09am & 16h00) El Mouradi training facility
Friday, January 5, 2018: Two training sessions (09am & 16h00) El Mouradi training facility
Saturday, January 6, 2018: Official Friendly Match (Rwanda vs Sudan, 14h00, Sousse)
Sunday, January 7, 2018: Non-official Friendly Match (Rwanda vs Namibia, 14:00 in Jamal, Tunisia)
Monday, January 8, 2018: Two Training Sessions (10am & 16h00) at El Mouradi Training Facility
Tuesday, January 9, 2018: One Training Session (10am)
Wednesday, January 10, 2018: Official Friendly Match (Rwanda vs Tunisia, 15:00 in Tunis).
Thursday: January 11, 2018: Departure to Tanger via Casablanca
