Rwandese international eyeing SPL golden boot: Tuyisenge dreams big

Gor Mahia striker Jacques Tuyisenge pose with his player of the month for June award at Camp Toyoyo yesterday

Gor Mahia forward Jacques Tuyisenge believes the team has what it takes to qualify for this year’s CAF Confederations Cup quarter-final and even advance to the finals.

Gor, who are currently second in Group D with five points, two points behind leaders USM Alger of Algeria, are just two games away from reaching the knock-out stages.

And with Yanga return leg match coming up away in Dar es Salaam on Sunday, the Rwandese international, who was yesterday named SportPesa Premier League Player of the Month for June after scoring five goals in league matches, said their target is to reach the last-eight.

“Yanga enjoy home advantage and, of course, they will come strong on us aiming to revenge last week’s defeat, but we have our own target which is to qualify for the quarterfinals. I think we have a strong and committed team with an insatiable hunger for success. We must beat them on Sunday to make things easy for ourselves,” Tuyisenge said after receiving the SportPesa/LG sponsored personalized trophy and Sh100,000 at Camp Toyoyo.

“We can definitely win in Dar es Salaam. We have quality players and I think we can go far in the Confederations Cup and don’t be surprised if we reach the finals. The commitment and unity in this team is close to none.”

Asked if he will seize the opportunity to claim the 2018 SPL golden boot after the recent departure of leading scorer Elvis Rupia (15 goals) to Zambian Power Dynamos, the Rwandese striker who has so far scored 11 times, said: “June’s award is an indication of more good things to come.  It is not easy to win such an award in a highly competitive league like SPL but I am glad my efforts have been recognized. I am happy for the good run in June and made good use of all the chances I got. I thank my teammates and coaches, this wouldn’t have been possible without them.

“The job of a striker is to score goals and with a couple of matches to go, I think I can win the golden boot. However, at the moment, my target is to help the team win all the remaining three Confederations Cup matches as well as retain the league title. Winning the golden boot will just be a bonus for me.”

Tuyisenge’s recognition comes barely three days after his boss Dylan Kerr scooped the Coach of the Month award.

The striker saw off competition from his teammate Francis Kahata and Bandari custodian Farouk Shikhalo.