Rwanda Coach Mashami Happy With CHAN Qualification

Rwanda national team head coach Vincent Mashami has expressed his excitement after qualifying for the 2020 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) over Ethiopia on Saturday.

Following a 1-0 win away in the first leg, the Amavubi shared the spoils 1-1 with the Walias Ibexes in the return leg fixture to seal their qualification on a 2-1 aggregate.

They have now joined hosts Cameroon and other 14 nations including Tanzania, Togo, Morocco and Uganda that will participate in the tournament.

On Saturday, Sugira Ernest scored an 86th minute equalizer for the hosts following a 72nd minute goal from Ethiopian Lemene Mesfin Tafesse.

“The players displayed a high level of maturity and fighting spirit,” said Mashami in an interview with Ducor Sports.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “We showed that we are not a team that gives up, that we can fight back. My ambition as the coach is to continue winning and giving confidence to my players as we now shift focus on Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.”   [/perfectpullquote]

Mashami, however, admitted the need to beef up his squad before the final tournament in Cameroon early next year.

“We have a solid team but there are few positions that need reinforcements. We’ll be on the lookout for excellent additions so that we can participate very well in the CHAN next year,” he said.

Qualification to next year’s CHAN finals will be the fourth appearance for Rwanda who have competed at the 2018, 2016 and 2011 Africa Nations Championships.

The Central- East region country’s best performance in the tournament only remains reaching the quarterfinals in 2016. Amavubi bowed out from the group stage at the 2011 and 2018 editions.