Rwanda coach McKinstry: Playing Ghana will be difficult

Rwanda Coach Johnny McKinstry says he would have wished to play any other team aside Ghana in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Rwanda are drawn together with Ghana, Mozambique and Mauritius in Group H of the 2017 Afcon qualifiers.

McKinstry, who coached the Right to Dream Academy in Ghana in 2010, has admitted that the Black Stars are favourites to claim top spot in the group.

“It is obviously a tough group. No one wants to be in the same group with Ghana because they have been a very strong side and are a relatively young team.” McKinstry told supersport.com.

“The games against Mozambique and Mauritius will be evenly contested and we can win. We have to fight for the second place against those two teams. First place will be difficult, but second place is a very realistic ambition for us,” McKinstry said.

The last time Ghana and Rwanda met was in the 2003 Afcon qualifiers where the Black Stars defeated the Amavubi 4-2 in Accra but fell to a 1-0 loss in Kigali.

The winners in each of the 13 groups will qualify automatically to the final tournament while the two runners-up with the best records will join hosts Gabon to make 16 teams.