Congo dismiss favourites tag
Jonathan Bolingi (L) and Doxa Gikanji of DR Congo dance away after they edged Guinea 5-4 on penalties on Wednesday to make the Chan finals. They play Mali on Sunday. PHOTO BY BACKPAGEPIX
KIGALI- Since their opening two matches the going African Nations Championship (Chan) where they left Ethiopia and Angola on the wayside, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been anointed the best side by many here.
Not even the 3-1 final group game defeat at the hands of the now exited Cameroon, when qualification to the quarterfinals was already guaranteed, changed the view.
Every side the Leopards have met thereafter – and other neutral observers - have been left singing DRC’s praises, all almost declaring them champions-in-waiting.
Guinea were the latest on Wednesday to feel they had lost to a better and more experienced side following the Syli Nationale’s 5-4 shoot-out loss to DRC after extra time had ended 1-1.
“These players gave their best against a very good and organised side,” said a downcast Guinea coach Mohamed Kanfory Bangoura, after his Chan debutants’ dream of making it to the final was ended at Amahoro Stadium, “But I’m proud of them.”
Tunisia coach Hatem Missaoui, after his team’s quarterfinal loss to Mali, had also singled out DRC as the best team in the competition, tipping them to go all the way.
Uganda coach Micho Sredojevic, whose Cranes were bundled out in the group stages, too had added to the growing list of managers and public voices that see this Congo side as the champions-in-waiting.
But DRC coach Florent Ibenge, a humble man of a calm demeanour, dismissed all the hullabaloo that his side were favourites heading into Sunday’s final against Mali.
Coach Djibril Drame’s Mali edged Ivory Coast 1-0 in the second semifinal last night. “People can think what they want to think,” Ibenge, gunning for his first Chan title and DRC’s second in the competition’s fourth edition, told a post-match press conference, “But for us we know we are not (favourites). We first have to play the match.
“According to me, this game, it is 50-50, because before the match, anyone can say what they want but on the field of play, that’s where everything happens. “So I think it is 50-50 against Cote d’Ivoire or Mali. It is anyone’s game. We will see about the match on Sunday.”
DRC were, however, stretched to the limit by a very practical Guinea, Ibrahima Sory Sankhon netting a late equaliser in extra time after Jonathan Bolingi had headed the Leopards ahead on 101. The Leopards later edged it on a lottery.
