BY Victor Akhidenor
Johnny McKinstry has been named as the new coach of the Rwanda national football team.
The Northern Irishman got the job ahead of Jose Morais, Turk Engin Fırat and Hans Michael Weiss and will replace Englishman Stephen Constantine who quit the post in January to take over as manager of the India national team.
McKinstry will now take charge of Rwanda’s quest of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics, the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 World Cup.
Rwanda will be hosting the African Nations Championship in January 2016, and MaKinstry is looking forward to the challenges ahead.
“I am very pleased to be able to accept the offer made by FERWAFA to become the new coach of the Rwandan national team,” he said.
“Since my time with Sierra Leone I have been seeking an opportunity that would, with my input, have potential for tangible and sustained success. In Rwanda I believe I have found that opportunity, and am pleased to have been tasked with the responsibility of guiding the Amavubi forward into CHAN 2016, which will be hosted in Rwanda, as well as in pursuit of qualification for AFCON 2017 and the 2018 World Cup in Russia.”
Aside the senior national team job, the 29-year-old will also take charge of the U-23 and U-20 teams.
McKinstry was appointed by Sierra Leone at the age of 27 and he took the Leone Stars into the top 50 of the FIFA world rankings as the youngest manager in international football.
He lost only one of his first six matches but following defeats by Cote d’Ivoire and DR Congo in the 2015 AFCON qualifiers, he was sacked.
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