Djihad Bizimana of Rwanda is challenged by Rabiu Ali of Nigeria during the CHAN Group C match between Nigeria and Rwanda on 15 January 2018 at Grand Stade de Tanger, Tanger Morocco Pic Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
Rwanda’s Amavubi team will be aiming to build on positive start to the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) with a victory over Equatorial Guinea when both sides meet on Friday night in the second game of Group C at Grand Stade de Tanger in Morocco.
Kick-off is at 21:30 CAT – Live on SS8, SS9 and Canal Sport.
The Amavubi team got their campaign off to a goalless draw against Nigeria at the very same venue on Monday, this week.
As a result, Rwanda is joint-second with Nigeria with both nations having a point each while Libya tops the group with three points from their 3-0 win over Equatorial Guinea who are pointless bottom of the log.
Rwanda will be going into tonight’s game aiming for nothing less than a win so as to build onto it when they face Libya in the final game as they seek a place in the last eight.
Speaking on Thursday during the official press conference held in Tanger, Coach Antoine Hey said, “We must forget the first match against Nigeria and think of Equatorial Guinea now. It’s true, we had a good match, the man of the match was a Rwandan, but we must forget all that and think about the future,”
“It will be a different game. We will aim for victory against an opponent who showed a lack of pace in his first match. We must be wary because Equatorial Guinea play collectively and can cause some problems. They will come all out. We have the advantage of having had enough time to acclimatize with the climate because we had a training camp in Tunisia in January, where the climatic conditions are similar,” he added.
The Amavubi skipper Eric Ndayishimiye also recapped his coach’s aim saying, “Our aim is to win against Equatorial Guinea. Our morale is good after the draw against Nigeria. Now, we have to win. A win against Equatorial Guinea will allow us to stay in the race to qualify for the second round.
Equatorial Guinea face Rwanda knowing that a win against Rwanda is their last chance of survival in this tournament according to head coach and former professional player Rodolfo Bodipo.
Bodipo said, “The Rwanda match is our last chance in this tournament, if we want to qualify for the second round. We will face a good team, which everyone expected to lose against Nigeria. During that match, they showed some quality,”
“Our players are learning the ropes at this tournament. Our aim is to get our players to play for clubs within Africa and even Europe to gain exposure. We want to honour our country and therefore, we will do our utmost to beat Rwanda. We have corrected our mistakes against Libya and asked the players to play the game without pressure,” added Bodipo who featured in 158 games in La Liga over the course of eight seasons, scoring 32 goals in representation of Racing de Santander, Alavés and Deportivo.
The Rwanda and Equatorial Guinea will be played after an eye-thrilling encounter between Libya and Nigeria scheduled for 18:30 CAT.
In Group B matches played on Thursday, Namibia secured a second successive injury-time victory at the 2018 African Nations Championship to join Group B rivals Zambia in the quarterfinals.
The Brave Warriors of Namibia defeated Uganda 1-0 at the Marrakech Stadium in Morocco on Thursday night, having overcome Ivory Coast in a similar fashion on Sunday.
The result means Zambia (who beat Ivory Coast 2-0 earlier in the evening) and Namibia have joined Morocco and Sudan (both Group A) in the final eight of the continental competition, while the Cranes and Elephants have both been eliminated.
Total 2018 CHAN Tournament
Friday’s Group C Fixtures
Libya vs Nigeria (18:30 CAT)
Rwanda vs Equatorial Guinea (21:30 CAT)
1 comment
Congratulations to Amavubi. ??????
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