Rwanda off to flying start

The perfect start for coach Ratum and his team

Rwanda's A team has begun its campaign in the Cecafa Challenge Cup in convincing style.

They beat Somalia 3-0 on Saturday evening in the opening game of the tournament in front of a 35,000 capacity crowd in Kigali's Stade Amahoro.

Centre forward Hassan Milli was the hero, scoring twice.

His first came in the sixth minute after his powerful strike was deflected by a defender, wrong-footing the 18-year-old Somalian goalkeeper Ali Abdukadir.

Rwanda dominated play, but had to wait until the half hour mark to double their advantage.

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Milli was able to jump unmarked to head home a near post cross from right winger Abdul Uwimana.

From then on in it was all Rwanda.

Somalia, Africa's poorest team according to Fifa rankings, barely threatened to score at any stage.

Cold conditions

They were under constant attack and were fortunate to only lose by three goals.

Olivier Karekezi added the last, with a lovely volley fifteen minutes from time.

Rwanda's captain Eric Nshimyimana was understandably satisfied with the way they had played.

Somalia have work to do

"It was not a difficult game for us; Somalia is not a strong team. But in the first half we let them play too much, so when the game re-started we took things in hand, attacking all the time.

"We are now ready to win this Cup."

Somalia's forward Adan Issa, who had a frustrating game, said the chilly weather was too much for him and his partners to cope with.

"The climate was really hard for us, we were feeling very cold", said Issa.

"Had we played at home, in the heat, we would have won".