Rwanda beaten at the death

23 June 2011

Rwanda put up another brave performance but were ultimately beaten 1-0 by Uruguay at the death in their 2011 FIFA Under-17 World Cup Group C game on Wednesday.

It follows the 2-0 defeat by England in their opener earlier in the week and means they have all-but been eliminated from the competition ahead of their final group game against Canada on Saturday.

Rwanda looked to have held on for a point that would have kept them in the competition, but a goal from Leonardo Pais in the dying seconds of the match put the Uruguayans into the knockout stages.

The African side had the better of the opening stages and might have been ahead inside five minutes with captain Emery Bayisenge hitting the post with a free-kick, and then hitting another just over the crossbar.

Elbio Alvarez should have put Uruguay in front when he rounded the keeper but missed the target, before Juan San Martin found himself one-on-one with the keeper again but could not finish.

Uruguay improved in the second period and had a number of chances to win the game, but a mixture of poor finishing and good goalkeeping kept them at bay.

But deep into injury-time their goalkeeper launched a hopeful ball forward from the back and Pais was on hand to head home while the Rwandan defence stood static.

A big win for Rwanda against the Canadians would keep their hopes of finishing as one of the best third-place finishers, but that would also rely on results in other groups going their way.

Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire are in action on Thursday as the Burkinabe look to bounce back from their surprise opening defeat to minnow Panama with a strong showing against one of the pre-tournament favourites, Germany.

The Ivorians also lost first-up, 2-1 to Australia, and need a victory against Denmark to get their campaign back on track.