The Rwanda National football team has intensified preparations ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup Nations final Group H qualifier against Ghana by moving their drills from an artificial turf in Kigali to a grass field in Amahoro, as the technical staff "do not want to leave anything to chance."
The Amavubi, ranked 121st in the latest release, aims for a win in the September 3 clash at the Accra Sports Stadium in a bid to breathe life into their recent poor FIFA rankings.
The team will be hoping for a win against the Blackstars despite being out of contention for a place in the 2017 Africa Nations’ Cup finals after blowing away their chances to book a ticket to the tournament in Gabon when they lost 1-0 to Mauritius in Belle Vue in March before succumbing to a shock 3-2 loss to Mozambique in Kigali in June.
According to inside sources, the technical staff didn’t want to leave anything to chance, which is why they decided to have the team train on both artificial (Kigali stadium) and grass (Amahoro) pitches, just in case there is a change of venue in Ghana,a leading Rwandan daily, the New Times, reveals.
The team, working under the tutelage of interim head coach Jimmy Mulisa, his assistant Mashami Vincent, and new goalkeeping coach Thomas Higiro, has APR FC winger Innocent Habyarimana being the only addition to the provisional 26-man squad which was summoned last Sunday to enter residential camp at La Palisse Hotel in Nyandungu.
Black Stars manager Avram Grant has already named his 23 man squad for the upcoming AFCON qualifier against the Amavubi with skipper Asamoah Gyan making a return to the team for the dud game, after shrugging off recent injury struggles. His deputy, Andre Ayew, misses out after injuring his thigh in his first game for his new side.
Ghana leads Group H with 13 points, having already booked a place to the tournament while Rwanda, despite those two defeats, remain in second place with six points, level with Mauritius, who will host bottom-placed Mozambique (4 points) on September 3.
By Abdul Malik/ghanaguardian.com
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