AS Kigali head coach Eric Nshimiyimana said he was bold enough to guide his team to the upcoming 2019-20 CAF Confederation Cup group stage after joining the club last week.
After a disappointing league season that saw the City of Kigali sponsored team finish in seventh place, 33 points behind champions Rayon Sports, the former Rwanda international produced a surprise return to AS Kigali.
However, against all odds, after beating SC Kiyovu in the final, they managed to eliminate all top favorites – Rayon, APR and Mukura – on their way to clinching their third Peace Cup title.
With the Peace Cup triumph, AS Kigali automatically qualified to represent the nation in the Confederation Cup and will launch their campaign against the Kinondoni Municipal Council (KMC) in Tanzania on the weekend of August9-11.
The Tanzania team, which failed to make it past the group phase of the recently completed 2019 Cecafa Kagame Cup in Rwanda, boosts former APR skipper Jean-Baptiste Mugiraneza in their ranks. The holding midfielder was among the sixteen players published by the military side previously this month
Speaking to Times Sport on Thursday, tactician Nshimiyimana said, “We want to go as far as possible in the tournament. The first target is to reach the group stage and once we get there, who knows where we will end up!”
Nshimyimana, 47, is coaching AS Kigali for the third time after his short stint in 2008 and then from 2013 to 2018.
AS Kigali has been on a shopping spree in the transfer market since winning the Peace Cup, having already signed Haruna Niyonzima and a number of other seasoned players as well as four imports from Gabon and Cameroon.
Nshimiyimana further noted: “We are going to focus on one game at a time.”
“Reaching the second round will be our first important achievement, and then continue the hard work for the next round. The mood in the team is fantastic, and all the players are fit and ready for continental football.”
Should AS Kigali see off KMC, they will face the winner in the second round between Uganda’s Proline and Malawi’s Masters Security Services.