On Rwanda!
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On Rwanda!
I hope they make their ppl proud today.
Soccer Helps Rwanda Heal After Genocide
By RAF CASERT
.c The Associated Press
BIZERTE, Tunisia (AP) - As a child, Jean-Remy Bitana lived through the horrors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that left more than half a million people dead.
``I could see it, I could feel it,'' he said in a voice barely stronger than a whisper. ``I saw so many murders, bodies.''
Ten years later, he is playing on Rwanda's national soccer team, a symbol of reconciliation in this ravaged nation. The squad has defied the odds to reach the 16-team field of the African Cup of Nations.
The Wasps will play the biggest game in the country's history Saturday when they open the tournament against heavily favored Tunisia, the host nation.
``If our dreams come true and we beat Tunisia, a child born that day will bear the name 'Rwanda,''' Bitana predicted, a strong statement in a nation where children used to be named after the royalty of their colonizers and ID cards specifically mentioned if one was Hutu or Tutsi.
Now, regardless of ethnicity, fans from all over the lush, central African country back the Amavubi, as the team is known in Kinyarwanda, Rwanda's national language. It is a far cry from a decade ago when a 100-day killing spree spurred by an extremist Hutu government pillaged the nation.
It took two years to form a semblance of a national team. Early on, the team was riven with suspicion.
``It was terrible. Players were thinking of that. You could meet someone who killed your wife, your family. That's the way it went,'' said Bitana, a 20-year-old defender who was fortunate enough not to lose close family.
Assistant coach Jean-Marie Ntagwabira was a lieutenant in the army of Paul Kagame that swept to power in the wake of the slaughter and played during those early postwar years.
``Some of the players were really fearful to show up,'' he said.
Rwandans' love of soccer is so strong that even during Kagame's military campaign to take power every battalion found time to set up a team and play games.
``We had to start out from scratch again,'' said Ntagwabira, adding this explains why the average player's age is in the low 20s.
Bitana still remembers how reconciliation was taught in schools as of 1996.
``Brothers, sisters, fathers and grandfathers are dead. But when we start playing, we forget that and look at what has been achieved already,'' Bitana said. ``It is as if we are shown the way ahead. The more obstacles we face, the more we scale.''
He may be an ethnic Hutu, but he insists on being called ``a Rwandan, neither a Hutu or a Tutsi.''
Serb coach Ratomir Dujkovic has had to deal with poor facilities, lack of funds and players with only a rudimentary sense of tactics. He knows, however, he can always count on a unity of purpose.
``Today, no Rwandan player still mentions this terrible genocide,'' he said.
The team has the full support of President Kagame, who came out in the middle of the night to celebrate one of Rwanda's successes.
``We are not to be seen as a nation of genocide that is bent on self-destruction,'' Kagame has said.
Rwanda's rise is regarded as astounding. It has gone from one of the world's lowest-ranked countries to 109 in last year's rankings by soccer's governing body.
Most other teams have players in some of Europe's biggest leagues. Rwanda fields mostly amateur players, and its captain, Desire Mbonabucya, plays in the lowly Belgian league. Only eight play abroad, mostly in Belgium, Rwanda's former colonizer.
In qualifying for the African Cup, Rwanda first swept past regional rival Uganda, a huge achievement in itself, before taking on Ghana, which had won the African Cup no less than four times. The 1-0 victory made sure the soccer world took notice.
``If it were not for reconciliation, we would be eliminated each time,'' Bitana said. ``It is our spirit which brought us to where we are now.''
01/23/04 17:06 EST
Soccer Helps Rwanda Heal After Genocide
By RAF CASERT
.c The Associated Press
BIZERTE, Tunisia (AP) - As a child, Jean-Remy Bitana lived through the horrors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that left more than half a million people dead.
``I could see it, I could feel it,'' he said in a voice barely stronger than a whisper. ``I saw so many murders, bodies.''
Ten years later, he is playing on Rwanda's national soccer team, a symbol of reconciliation in this ravaged nation. The squad has defied the odds to reach the 16-team field of the African Cup of Nations.
The Wasps will play the biggest game in the country's history Saturday when they open the tournament against heavily favored Tunisia, the host nation.
``If our dreams come true and we beat Tunisia, a child born that day will bear the name 'Rwanda,''' Bitana predicted, a strong statement in a nation where children used to be named after the royalty of their colonizers and ID cards specifically mentioned if one was Hutu or Tutsi.
Now, regardless of ethnicity, fans from all over the lush, central African country back the Amavubi, as the team is known in Kinyarwanda, Rwanda's national language. It is a far cry from a decade ago when a 100-day killing spree spurred by an extremist Hutu government pillaged the nation.
It took two years to form a semblance of a national team. Early on, the team was riven with suspicion.
``It was terrible. Players were thinking of that. You could meet someone who killed your wife, your family. That's the way it went,'' said Bitana, a 20-year-old defender who was fortunate enough not to lose close family.
Assistant coach Jean-Marie Ntagwabira was a lieutenant in the army of Paul Kagame that swept to power in the wake of the slaughter and played during those early postwar years.
``Some of the players were really fearful to show up,'' he said.
Rwandans' love of soccer is so strong that even during Kagame's military campaign to take power every battalion found time to set up a team and play games.
``We had to start out from scratch again,'' said Ntagwabira, adding this explains why the average player's age is in the low 20s.
Bitana still remembers how reconciliation was taught in schools as of 1996.
``Brothers, sisters, fathers and grandfathers are dead. But when we start playing, we forget that and look at what has been achieved already,'' Bitana said. ``It is as if we are shown the way ahead. The more obstacles we face, the more we scale.''
He may be an ethnic Hutu, but he insists on being called ``a Rwandan, neither a Hutu or a Tutsi.''
Serb coach Ratomir Dujkovic has had to deal with poor facilities, lack of funds and players with only a rudimentary sense of tactics. He knows, however, he can always count on a unity of purpose.
``Today, no Rwandan player still mentions this terrible genocide,'' he said.
The team has the full support of President Kagame, who came out in the middle of the night to celebrate one of Rwanda's successes.
``We are not to be seen as a nation of genocide that is bent on self-destruction,'' Kagame has said.
Rwanda's rise is regarded as astounding. It has gone from one of the world's lowest-ranked countries to 109 in last year's rankings by soccer's governing body.
Most other teams have players in some of Europe's biggest leagues. Rwanda fields mostly amateur players, and its captain, Desire Mbonabucya, plays in the lowly Belgian league. Only eight play abroad, mostly in Belgium, Rwanda's former colonizer.
In qualifying for the African Cup, Rwanda first swept past regional rival Uganda, a huge achievement in itself, before taking on Ghana, which had won the African Cup no less than four times. The 1-0 victory made sure the soccer world took notice.
``If it were not for reconciliation, we would be eliminated each time,'' Bitana said. ``It is our spirit which brought us to where we are now.''
01/23/04 17:06 EST
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Robbynice
Robby that was 10 yrs ago i dont just talk for talking sake like U (Mr it was written) 
.I face facts and reality and Tunisia will beat Rwanda simple as that.
.I face facts and reality and Tunisia will beat Rwanda simple as that.http://www.myspace.com/donproductionsbeatz
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Listen to my beatz^^^^^
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www.twitter.com/Donproductions
Listen to my beatz^^^^^
Na true yu talk my broda. i don't see Rwanda beating Tunisia.omey2k4 wrote:Robby that was 10 yrs ago i dont just talk for talking sake like U (Mr it was written)
"If winning isn't important, why do we spend all that money on scoreboards?“ --Chuck Coonradt
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Bigpokey24
- Super Eagle
- Posts: 110990
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Robbynice
Ol'boy can you define what you mean by facts and reality? IMO the fact still remains that Tunisia when expected to perform fumbles and the reality of the matter is there are no more minnows in African soccer and I for now wouldn't be surprised should Rwanda beat Tunisia today.omey2k4 wrote:Robby that was 10 yrs ago i dont just talk for talking sake like U (Mr it was written)
With that said I see Tunisia winning the game.
Last edited by Robbynice on Sat Jan 24, 2004 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Robbynice
Lefak, you dey mind them. People talk as if Rwanda was handed a courtesy ticket to come to Tunisia. I will say and say it right now that no team in the tournament Rwanda included is going to be beaten by 6 or more goals. It is not going to happen.Lefak wrote:I doubt if the score line will be that bad - after all this is a team that qualified at the expense of Uganda and Ghana (no matter how bad Ghana are right now)
Bigpokey24 wrote:this game would be over by half time , 6-0 in favor or tunisia
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PaJimoh
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mystic
Come on Rwanda I for one would just love it if you gate crashed the Tunisian party.
Patrick Ntsoelengo,Nelson Dladla,Petros Nzimande, Abednigo Ngcobo,Doctor Khumalo,Vusi Lamola,Gerald Dlamini,Simom Lehoko,Silvester Kole,Lucas Radebe,Jan Lichaba, Leonard Likoebe,Edson Mguyo, Arie Khongoane,Marks Maponyanye,Donald Khuse, Jabu Pule, Mark Tovey, Zebulon Nhlapo,Gabriel Tikkie Khoza,Moran Khulu,Michael Dlamini,Johannes Mofokeng, Wellinton Manyathi,Jingles Perreira....... to be continued....Amhakhosi Kaizer Chiefs!!!!!!!
