Rwanda coach McKinstry bows out of Chan with head held high

In Summary

This was after a 2-1 extra time victory following towering defender Padou Bompunga’s 116th minute headed winner.
Overall, the Amavubi Stars lived toe-to-toe with the Leopards, and both sides could have got out of each other’s sight in the two shared halves but for some brilliant goalkeeping and wasted chances

The last eight, and semi-finals, were hosts Rwanda and DRC’s targets respectively coming into the 2016 African Nations Championship (Chan). They both duly achieved.

But at the end of 120 entertaining minutes at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali on Saturday, only DRC retained bigger dreams to even go on and win it, as their coach Florent Ibenge later upgraded his ambitions. “Now we want to go back home with the winners’ medal,” he said.

This was after a 2-1 extra time victory following towering defender Padou Bompunga’s 116th minute headed winner.
Overall, the Amavubi Stars lived toe-to-toe with the Leopards, and both sides could have got out of each other’s sight in the two shared halves but for some brilliant goalkeeping and wasted chances.

DRC, who were winning only their first match in three attempts with their eastern neighbours, were good value for their lead when Rwandan defence hesitated and Doxa Gikanji fired the Leopards ahead on 12 minutes. Rwanda never gave up, returning to level on 57 minutes when Jean Claude Iranzi, very lucky not to be sent off after stamping on a grounded DRC player, teed-up Ernest Sugira for the striker to end the competition with three goals.

There was never missing the fact that the Congolese had that edge in the derby, which was characterised by a boisterous 30,000-plus crowd.

But it is the manner in which the hosts were ejected that left Rwanda coach Johnny McKinstry deflated, his defence switching off for Bompunga to head home four minutes to penalties. “Of course we are very, very disappointed today because we felt on a different day maybe those chances in the second half (Sugira had three) go in and we are sitting here celebrating a place in the semi-finals,” lamented the 30-year-old.

But the Northern Irishman does not want disappointment to blur the positives. “Of course in the last year; this team has achieved a lot,” he said. “We won our first away game in four years, reached the final of Cecafa, and this is the first time Rwanda is making the quarterfinals at a continental stage, ever. So while we are all so very disappointed, we have moved forward as a team.

“It’s now time to recover and to analyse our performance. We’ve got only six weeks from now until we face Mauritius.
“We are sat second in our African Cup of Nations group, and our target is to take six points from those two games.”

DISAPPOINTED
Coach Jonny McKinstry was left disappointed by the manner in which his team were ejected. He was bitter his defenders switched off for Padou Bompunga to head in DR Congo’s winner.

Chan quarters
Saturday’s results
Rwanda 1-2 DR Congo (ET)
Cameroon 0-3 Ivory Coast (ET)
Sunday’s result
Tunisia 1-2 Mali
Semifinals, Wed at 5pm