User:Justin Mico

= Justin Mico’s profile = Full name	Justin Mico

Date of birth	21 December 1994 (age 22)

Place of birth	Rubavu, Rwanda

Height	1.84 m (6 ft 2 in)

Playing position	Striker

Club information

Current team

Police

Youth career

Musanze Junior 2008

Senior career*

Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)

2011–2013	Isonga	(30) 8 goals

2013–2016	AS Kigali	(46 games) 5 goals

2016–2017	Police	21	(11)    Assist (5)

National teams

Junior wasps (U17) 29 games (10)

Junior Wasps (U20) 3 (0)

2013–current	Rwanda	2	(0)

Justin Mico Born 21 December 1994 (age 22) is a Rwandan footballer who currently plays for Rwandan side Police in Division 1. He is also a former captain of the Isonga team.

He signed for AS Kigali in 2013, leaving his youth club Isonga, and scored five goals in 46 matches in three seasons. In 2016, he scored 11 goals for Police where he signed from AS Kigali and thereby became their second top scorer.

Reviving one’s career is easier said than done. It is typically the very talented and gifted players who are capable of pulling off a complete comeback.

The 22-year year old was first spotted in the lead-up to the 2011 Africa U-17 Youth Championship that was staged in Kigali during which he featured as the lead striker, eventually helping Rwanda to qualify for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup finals in Mexico.

However, after Mexico, Mico got off the radar and struggled to rediscover his form, first with Isonga FC and later AS Kigali, and this led many to start wondering whether indeed the young forward would ever fulfill his potential.

However, since joining Police FC at the start of this season, the youngster has managed to show a glimpse of what he’s capable of doing.

He has so far netted 11 league goals for the third-placed cops and is just two goals behind top scorer and teammate Danny Usengimana.

Early days

Born on December 21, 1994 in Rubavu District, Western Province to Gasirimu Byakunda and Bukwane Nyiramana, Mico is the second born in the family of seven – four boys and three girls.

He attended Ecole Episcopale du Rwanda (E.E.R), located in Musanze District, for all of his primary education. In 2009, he joined Groupe Scolaire Kigombe (G.S.K), also in Musanze, for one year before switching to Groupe Scolaire APE Rugunga in Nyarugenge District until senior six.

At APE Rugunga, Mico majored in History, Economics and Geography (HEG) for his Advanced Level but by the time he sat his final senior six exams in 2015, he had switched to College George Fox Kagarama (CGFK) in Kicukiro District.

Mico said that football is embedded in his genes and he remembers that in his childhood, he escaped school several times to play football and he will not forget the multiple times he was punished by his father for preferring football to school.

“As a young kid, I loved football so much, I could spend all night watching soccer on TV when everyone else at home was asleep,” he recalled.

He added: “Due to this obsession, I would wake up early every morning to go to school but, along the way, I would divert to Musanze Stadium (Ubworoherane) to play football with my friends.”

“Because of that, I would always be in trouble whenever my dad realised that I didn’t go to school until 2008 when he decided to support my passion instead of fighting me, and bought me whatever I needed to be able to play.”

In 2008, Musanze FC started a reserve team and Mico was among the first intake spending there one year before Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) started a talent detection campaign around the country looking for kids that would go into the national academy.

Mico started his career as a holding midfielder until 2010 while the U17 national team head coach, French Richard Tardy, converted him into a striker, mostly playing as a number 10, a position he has grown to master quite well.

In 2011, Rwanda hosted Africa U-17 Youth Championship reaching the final which they lost to Burkina Faso 2-1. Mico had scored the lone goal in the semi-finals against Ivory Coast to send the Junior Wasps to the final.

Later that year, the Junior Wasps also debuted at FIFA U-17 World Cup that took place in Mexico. However, Mico didn’t score any goal at the finals tournament as Rwanda crashed out in the group stages.

Playing career

After the 2011 U-17 FIFA World Cup, several of these youngsters joined different top flight teams –defenders Emery Bayisenge and Michel Rusheshangonga as well as midfielder Andrew Buteera signed for APR FC.

But Mico wasn’t fortunate enough to get a top team and instead joined the newly formed Isonga FC, which had been established by Ferwafa specifically for these players that were part of the World Cup team.

Unfortunately, in his first season (2012/13) with Isonga FC, Mico suffered a severe knee injury that kept him out of action for the whole season but that didn’t stop AS Kigali, who were then under Andre Casa Mbugo, to sign him on a two-year contract.

“I was really excited after signing for AS Kigali; unfortunately, I never got a chance to play enough for them because my injury had not fully healed and it kept me out in the first season but in 2015/16 season I began to pick up pace and was playing regularly before joining Police this season,” he said.

“I think recovering fully has been essential in rediscovering my form but the belief that the coach has instilled in me is another big factor. You can say that I have finally revived my career and hopefully I can improve further and start playing for the senior national team.”