Rwandan squad captain: Algeria will not beat Egypt if they play like in Kigali

Taking the same flight as Echorouk' reporter, the Rwandan national squad captain Alevei Karakazi on his way to Brussels from Kigali, gave a lengthy interview to our special envoy despite his bitter disappointment at the recent draw ( 1-1) imposed by the Algerian national squad on his team in Kigali.

• Q: What’s the reason behind the delay in joining your Norwegian club Hamkheim?:
• A: No, I didn’t join it late; the fact is that the Norwegian league will kick off Saturday April 4 that’s why my coach has given me two more days to rest after my match against Algeria.
• Q: It seems that you have spent a lot of energy during the match?
• A: Indeed, I feel exhausted after the fixture in addition morally speaking I feel down because we failed to bring happiness into the heart of millions of Rwandans at the end.
• Q: You have failed also to destabilize the Algerian defense that kept strong till the end?
• A: We did our best to finish the game with a win but the tactic followed by the Algerian squad made it difficult for us to score and forced us to satisfy with a draw; moreover, the Norwegian league didn’t start yet and stood out of competition  for more than two months.
• Q: Does it mean that the Algerian squad played better?
• A: No, I didn’t mean that, unexpectedly, they played defensively as if they came to Kigali in order to clinch on point only; this is amazing coming from a squad with a glorious past.
• Q: So you were expecting to play a different Algerian squad?
• A: If we consider the lineup, you conclude that Algeria possesses a big national squad, but during the match things were different.  Frankly speaking the Algerian squad is not that strong and we could have won if we seize the opportunities especially in the second half.
• Q: Who are the Algerian players that attracted your attention the most?
• A: Three only were on top, the captain Mansouri, the giant defender (Boughuerra) and number 7 (Matmour).
•  Q: We feel you sorry to the loss of two points?
• A: We had in mind to defeat Algeria and start the qualifiers with a win pending the second match against Zambia.
•  Q: After the draw with Algeria how do you evaluate your team’s chances for the rest of the competition?
• A: Our chances are still intact; we have to think about our next match against Zambia and try to defeat them in Lusaka.
• Q: Do you think that the task will be easy before Zambia that forced Egypt to share the points in Cairo?
• A: We have to consider things differently, Zambia performed a heroic match against the Pharaohs, but this is not a criterion for us, we’ll try to defeat them at home to catch up the missed points.
• Q: In the light of the latest results, which squad do you think have the best chances to qualify for the next World Cup?
•  A: Things are still fuzzy, it(s hard to predict after the first round of these qualifiers, but the Egyptians are the favorites despite their tough start.
• Q:   What can you say about the coming match between Algeria and Egypt?
• A: The match is a derby and it’s hard to forecast the result, but Algeria plays the same way as it did with us, I can tell you that the Egyptians have an big opportunity to top the group