User:Amakuru/RwandaNamibia

Rwanda 3-0 Namibia
 * 12 October 2003
 * Report by your self-appointed GAS correspondent at the Amahoro Stadium.

It may not have attracted a worldwide audience of thousands of millions, the emergency kettle-power generator for that half-time cup of tea was probably dispensed with, and the UK press may well have devoted more space to stories about David Beckham's toenails than this encounter of unfashionable teams, but for the people of Rwanda the match was of the utmost importance, for it marked the beginning of a trail which could ultimately lead to this nation being crowned world football champions in Germany in the year 2006.

Pete and I rolled into the ground just before 4pm, reaching our seats somewhat after due to a rigorous security check, only to find that the match had started bang on time, which came as something of a surprise, given previous experience of African football, and indeed the usual 'elastic' Rwandan concept of time. I cannot provide you with the line-ups at present, given these were not announced. Two of the Namibian players appeared to be abazungu however, as were the managers of both the teams.

For the first half-hour, the game was a fairly scrappy affair, with Namibia having somewhat the better of the play, and looking like the only one of the two sides capable of carving out an opening. The Rwandan defence coped reasonably well with everything they had to offer, however, aside from from 'comedy' saves from the goalkeeper, who on a few occasions deigned to turn a routine catch into a spectacular diving parry which would usually fall stratigh tto an attacking Namibian!