Misfiring Rwanda hope to revive fortunes against Libya

Rwanda will be seeking to put their Cecafa Cup campaign back on track against Libya when the two teams meet on Thursday in a prelude to next year’s CHAN finals in Morocco.

Champions for the only time in 1999, Rwanda are at risk of bowing out of the tournament without a win after back-to-back defeats against Kenya and Zanzibar in Group A.

German coach Antoine Hey has had the chance to study all 23 of his players after completely reshuffling the team that lost 2-0 to Kenya for Tuesday’s 3-1 reverse against Zanzibar.

“We don’t have any other chance to prepare for CHAN (African Nations Championship) and this is our chance to give every player a platform and for us to analyse who will help us and who still needs a lot of work,” Hey said after the shock defeat by Zanzibar.

“I am disappointed with the result (against Zanzibar) but I will not regret changing the team.”

But against Libya, Rwanda, who came to the tournament as one of the favourites, face a tough challenge in breaking down a team that is unbeaten through two matches after holding both Tanzania and hosts Kenya to goalless draws.

Libya and Rwanda will also face each other in the group stage at the 2018 CHAN finals which run from January 13 to February 4.