The unemployed youths, civil servants and 1994 genocide survivors in the blue, yellow and green kits who make up the Wasps, Rwanda’s national soccer team, don’t look like they pack much of a sting.
But since teaming up with a Serb coach two years ago, the Amavubi, as they’re known in Kinyarwanda, Rwanda’s national language, have caused a lot of grief to African soccer heavyweights and regional rivals alike, and zoomed up the world rankings.
The results were particularly dramatic last year when the Wasps caused one of the biggest upsets in African soccer history by shutting out Ghana’s Black Eagles 1-0 to qualify for their first African Cup of Nations, and sending the Ghanaians crashing out of the continent’s premier tournament they had won four times.
Rwanda, a tiny, densely populated nation in central Africa, ranks among the top five best performers last year, roaring up 20 places to number 109 in last year’s Fifa rankings.
This is a far cry from the 168th position Rwanda held in December 1995, when it rejoined the world rankings 17 months after the genocide of more than 500 000 people, mainly minority Tutsis and political moderates from the Hutu majority. The 100-day slaughter was spurred on by an extremist Hutu government then in
power.
The success of the Wasps is remarkable because the team draws its talent from a league that is so poor that only two of its 12 clubs can afford to pay their players $100 every month. There are no sponsors for the clubs in a nation where more than 60% of the 8,2-million people scrape by on less than a dollar a day.
The grinding poverty is driving players to raise their game, hoping to impress and join lucrative leagues abroad, said national coach Ratomir Dujkovic, a big man of few words who played for Red Star of Belgrade.
”The hope that tomorrow they can get out and play abroad motivates them. Many managers of European clubs come to Rwanda, scouting for talented players,” said Dujkovic, who also coached the national teams of Burma and Venezuela.
At least eight Rwandans play in the Belgian, German, Norwegian and Zambian soccer leagues.
Sweating profusely at the edge of the pitch, defender Jean-Remy Bitana said allowances and bonuses paid to players when the national team performs well, push others to raise their performance in club sides in the hope of being called to play for the Wasps.
The victory over Ghana in July netted each Wasp 1-million Rwandan francs ($2 000) in bonuses, a small fortune in this country.
Unprecedented material and moral support from President Paul Kagame has also contributed to Rwanda’s steady rise.
The former rebel leader is a fixture at local and international matches, and his presence pushes players to perform ”beyond their best,” said Bitana, a recent high school graduate.
When Rwanda outplayed political and sporting rivals Uganda 1-0 during qualifying stages for the continental championship finals, Kagame, his wife and almost the entire Cabinet were at Kigali airport in the wee hours of the morning to welcome the Wasps home from their northern neighbour.
”This is the first time I have seen the president of the country waiting for me at the airport at 3 in the morning,” said Bitana, struggling to overcome emotions visible on his face. ”I still can not believe something like that can happen to someone like me.”
In a recent interview, Kagame said Rwanda’s soccer success has helped raise the country’s image, and that he had invested both personal and state resources to promote soccer because of the political benefit from forging a sense of national well-being and unity in a society still suffering from the mass killings.
”We are not to be seen as a nation of genocide that is bent on self-destruction,” said Kagame, adding that he regularly watches action in the English, Spanish and other international leagues on satellite television with his three sons, aged five to 12.
Dujkovic has also played a major role in the evolution of the national side despite the lack of even basic training facilities.
”When I came, I noticed that physical preparation was not a problem for the guys,” he said. ”But they had many problems with tactics, so I dedicated the two years to developing individual tactics, group tactics and team tactics.”
It has paid off. And the dividends extend to helping Tutsis and Hutus unite around the Wasps and identify themselves as Rwandans instead of by their ethnicity, Jean-Pierre Sagahutu, a genocide survivor, said as he entered the stadium to watch the team play Kenya.
Cheering the Wasps and booing Uganda’s Cranes, Hutus and Tutsis sat side by side in Amahoro National Stadium, which was shelled 10 years ago by Hutu extremists seeking to kill sheltering Tutsis.
In 1994, news of the genocide grabbed world headlines while the finals of the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia made news in sport pages, Sagahutu said.
”It’s amazing that (this) year we mark 10 years since the genocide, and we’re scheduled to play Tunisia in the opening match” on January 24, Sagahutu said.
”After we humbled Ghana,” he added, ”I do not rule out the possibility of Rwanda’s making even bigger headlines by defeating Tunisia.” – Sapa-AP