Rwanda v South Africa – Preview

On Tuesday, 21 November, Group C qualifying match at Huye Stadium. The match remains the priority for both teams increasing chances of quality for the next round. This is going to be the first time these two nations get to meet each other.

Rwanda

Rwanda will be eager to register a first win in their qualification matches when entertaining South Africa on Tuesday. In their first match, they held Zimbabwe to a 0-0 scoreline, their eighth draw in the last 13 matches. The nation is in real crisis though as over the period of two years, it has recorded one victory in all matches they have played. That lone win came against Guinea back last year in January. Struggling to get the results in the pitch has seen the federation hiring German international Torsten Spittler as the new head.

Overseeing his first match in charge of Amavubi, Spittler managed to get a point against Zimbabwe last week. That was a very encouraging nation with less known on the World Cup stage. The only time they appeared in the nation’s tournament was the 2004 African Cup of Nations( AFCON). Nevertheless, Amavubi are a building nation trying to make a name for themselves. All eyes will be on the 18-year-old dribbling wunderkind Hakimu Sakabo, who plays his football in Belgium for Standard Liege. Sakabo is tipped to dominate the game in the future with the pace and skills to beat the opponents. Lague Byiringiro is one dangerous man upfront who plies trade in Sweden’s lower division leagues for Sandviken IF. In the recently concluded league, Byiringiro scored 10 goals for his club.

South Africa

South Africa will carry a huge morale boost heading into a match having got the qualifying campaign off to a good start, with a 2-0 win over Benin on Saturday. Goals from Khuliso Mudau and Percy Tau ensured that Bafana Bafana got all three points at Moses Mabhida. Not only did Bafana win but they dominated the possession having over 70 percent of the ball at the end of the game. That comes as a big encouragement for the Hugo Broos side willing to make it to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2010.

Bafana will be happy to learn that the group’s dangerous opponent, Nigeria hasn’t had a good start. In their first two matches, the Super Eagles have drawn both of them against Lesotho and Zimbabwe. A victory for South Africa will take them a comfortable six points on the league table and a healthy early lead. As the side in great form wins one loss in 17 matches, Bafana will hope to continue with that fantastic run.

Prediction