NAIROBI, Kenya, September 6, 2026 – Tusker head coach Julien Mette believes playing at the Kigali Pele Stadium will be like home away from home.
The brewers face Sudan’s Al Ahli Medani in the first leg of the preliminary round of the Caf Confederations Cup on Sunday, and the Frenchman believes his charges will have the ‘home advantage.’
“The quality of the pitch…, it’s artificial grass, so the good point is we have trained at M-PESA Foundation on the same type of grass. In terms of technical, footsteps, footwork, the players are ready to face this type of pitch, which was not the case last month (at the Cecafa Club Championships),” Mette said.
The gaffer further described Rwanda as his second home, a place he understands like the back of his hand by virtue of previously coaching Rayon Sports.
“Far from home, but for me it’s home, because I’ve got Rayon Sports here and the players also have played two games here last month, so this is a good thing for us. We have played Rayon Sports here in a full stadium with 100 per cent of the fans against us. That will not be the case tomorrow (Sunday), so in terms of emotional, we are ready… I mean the players are ready,” he said.
With the start of the 2026/27 FKF Premier League in limbo, the brewers have been playing a number of friendlies to switch their minds to competitive mode.
They were one of two Kenyan representatives at July’s Cecafa Club Championships in Kigali where they unfortunately bowed out of the group stages after losses to Sudan’s Al Hilal and Rayon Sports — before beating Zanzibar’s KVZ in their final Pool C encounter.
Since then, they have steadily improved, notably beating league champions Gor Mahia 3-1 in the FKF Super Cup a fortnight ago.
These gains notwithstanding, Mette is conscious of the threat posed by their Caf opponents.
“The Super Cup gave us confidence, but we have to stick also to humility. We have prepared well, analysing the opponent and working tactically about how to hurt them and how not to be hurt. I am quite happy with the mindset,” he said.
The brewers return to continental competition for the first time since 2021/22 when they exited at the preliminary round of the Caf Confederations Cup, losing 1-0 on aggregate to Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien.
Their journey began in the Caf Champions League where they thrashed Djibouti’s Artar Solar 4-1 on aggregate in the first preliminary round but then lost 5-0 to Egyptian giants Zamalek in the next one.
