The Amavubi of Rwanda arrived in Uganda on Thursday ready for the first leg of the final phase of the 2018 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
Rwanda goes into Saturday’s game in a confident mood having defeated Sudan 2-1 in an international friendly match played on Monday in Kigali.
“I am happy with the way my players have been training and this gives me confidence in this first game against Uganda on Saturday,” Rwanda’s coach Antoine Hey told Xinhua in an interview in Entebbe, 40km south of the capital Kampala.
While Uganda ejected South Sudan on a 5-1 goal aggregate to advance to the next stage, the Amavubi saw off Tanzania on an away goals rule after the two teams drew 1-1 in Dar es Salaam and 0-0 in Kigali.
Uganda who has played in the last three CHAN competitions in Sudan, South Africa and Rwanda will be hungry to impress in the first leg at the St Marys Stadium, Kitende before the return leg in Kigali.
Hey explained that after his team beat Sudan 2-1 in an international friendly on Monday, he is even more confident Uganda will not have it easy although they are enjoying good form at home.
Strikers Dominique Savio Nshuti and Bernabe Mubumbyi who scored against Sudan are some of the stars who will lead the Rwanda team.
The Ugandan team which will play their first game in four years with new interim coach Moses Basena will look to in-form Derrick Nsibambi to do the magic.
“We have some injury worries with defender Savio Kabugo, but the team is generally responding well,” Basena
In past Uganda has won 14 times against their rivals Rwanda, while Rwanda has registered ten wins.
CHAN is a tournament reserved for home-based players and a total of 16 teams will take part in the biennial tournament, the second-largest football showpiece on the continent.
Meanwhile, Rwanda has moved eight places up to 119th in the latest rankings FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking released on Thursday in Zurich, Switzerland.
Rwanda moved eight places up in the latest FIFA world rankings having knocked out Tanzania in the second round of the 2018 CHAN Qualifiers.
Rwanda who had dropped eight places in the month of June is ranked 119th with 260 points.
