Rwanda face off Uganda Cranes

Wednesday

Rwanda      vs     Uganda

 

Amavubi Stars face Uganda Cranes in bid to revive their poor rankings on the FIFa standings and continue to prepare for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

 

The match will be held at Amahoro stadium at 3.30pm on Wednesday. Assistant captain Haruna Niyonzima is keen to win the game.

 

The Yanga playmaker, who will skipper the national team in the absence of Olivier Karekezi, is excited about leading Amavubi against Uganda, who come into the game as favourites.

 

Despite the game being just a friendly, clashes between the two bitter rivals always tend to be closely fought affairs, and Haruna, who has played a couple is determined to win it for the fans.

 

“We have to show that we are capable of doing well, after failing to do that on a number of occasions last year. This time we need to show that we are progressing well as a team, we must make better use of home advantages to demonstrate to Rwandans that we’re a good team,” Haruna told Rwandan media on Wednesday.

 

In a show of maturity, the midfielder admitted that it’s the players to blame for the team’s dismal runs of results last year.

 

He said, “We (players) are the ones to be blamed for poor performances last year, but we have to remember we’re a relatively young team with little experience playing in international matches.”

 

In their last meeting during the 2011 Cecafa Tusker Senior Challenge Cup finals in Tanzania, Uganda beat Rwanda 2-1 in the finals.

 

While the Amavubi ranked 137th will use the game to prepare for the up-coming 2014 World Cup qualifying tie Mali on March 22, Uganda ranked 81st will also use it to get their troops ready for an away trip to Liberia for the same qualifier.

 

In the other International friendly games lined up in the region for February 6, Tanzania will host former African champions Cameroon in a game Samuel Eto’o is expected to feature, while Kenya will battle Libya in Tunis.