Gabon avenged last year’s two losses to Rwanda with a 1-0 win victory in an international friendly match on Saturday at the Amahoro Stadium.
St Etienne’s Cyrille Avebe Engozoo netted a fine freekick from the edge of the box in similar fashion from the same spotthat Ghana’s Mubarak Wakaso a week ago to the date scored to guide the Black Stars to a 1-0 over the Amavubi in the Afcon 2017 qualifiers.
Rwanda goalkeeper Eric Ndayishimiye had the front of his left leg step outside the 18-yard box as he landed from fetching the ball in mid air following a failed Gabon attempt.
The resulting freekick was well taken by Engozoo who found his way around the wall into the far corner and not even Ndayishimiye’s long stretch could save the day in the 37th minute.
Ndayishimiye had replaced Olivier Kwizera who had conceded in exactly the same way a week ago and was expected to showcase experience but the small crowd at Amahoro Stadium was left numb and shell shocked.
A mediocre first half characterized by consistent loss of possession and a lack of creativity and lethal presence in the penalty box was later turned into a quest for goals in the second half with the introduction of Isaie Songa and Innocent Habyarimana.
Songa hit the post and Jacques Tuyisenge had his goal disallowed as Rwanda succumbed to a second consecutive loss at home in the space of seven days.
“Overall the first half was not good enough, second half was better, we hit the post, had a goal disallowed but it’s a hard lesson for the players that if you come and play against reasonably good teams they will punish you for not being at your best from the first minute,” explained McKinstry.
“I was pleased with the second half following good combinations from Yannick Mukunzi and Djihad Bizimana; Isaie Songa came into the game and showed the qualities he can have if he plays to his potential. The second half was about the players trusting that they had ability to play football,” he noted.
The locally based Amavubi players will play more games in preparation for the 2016 Chan that will be hosted in Rwanda from January 16-February 7.
Additional reporting by Supersportw
