Bonnie Mugabe
6 July 2009
Kigali — RWANDA did little to salvage any hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup and Africa Nations Cup after succumbing to a 3-0 defeat against African champions Egypt in Cairo.
The Amavubi Stars, who had given the nation hope after a spirited first half totally switched off after the break to give Egypt the upper hand.
The dismissal of Eric Gasana (Mbuyu Twite) added to Rwanda's woes on the night when they needed to come out firing.
Mohammed Aboutrika put Egypt in front on the 56th minute before Hosny Abd- Rabou doubled the lead on the 77th minute.
Aboutreika sealed Rwanda's fate from the spot in injury time to earn the Pharaohs their first Group C win while also reviving their seemingly fading hopes after a poor start to the qualifying campaign.
Similar to the Zambia game, Rwanda could have conceded more goals had it not been for the heroics of the experienced Jean Claude Ndoli in goal.
The APR custodian made three spectacular saves to deny Egypt's Mohammed Zidan who was replaced by Ahmed Sayed on the 60th minute.
Elias Ntaganda (6th minute) and Haruna Niyonzima (44th) had Rwanda's best scoring opportunities but wasted their chances.
The inclusion of Jean Paul Lutula for Elias Ntaganda and Albert Ngabo for Cyril Kouame still failed to yield any results as Rwanda's goal drought in the campaign continued.
Yesterday's result means that only goal difference separates Zambia and Egypt in second place of Group C while Rwanda who are still looking for their first goal of the campaign stay rooted at the bottom.
Algeria top the group with seven points, three clear of Zambia and Egypt. Rwanda's next tie is at home to Egypt on September 5 in Kigali.
Group C
Team P W D L GF GA Pts
Algeria 3 2 1 0 5 1 7
Zambia 3 1 1 1 2 3 4
Egypt 3 1 1 1 5 4 4
Rwanda 3 0 1 2 0 4 1
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