DR Congo favourites to land second Chan title

The fourth edition of the African Nations Championship (Chan) runs its course today with Democratic Republic of Congo facing Mali in the final here in Kigali, Rwanda.

The choice of Rwanda as hosts has proved its worth with the tiny country putting up such an organisational spectacle.
Bar a 12-minute blackout in Huye during a group stage match, there have been few sore thumbs on display during the championship. Confederation of African Football (Caf)’s top brass has given the local organising committee here in Rwanda a ringing endorsement for delivering a memorable, well-attended championship.

This can only mean a deeper, enduringly more profitable relationship between Caf and Rwanda, with the latter rumoured to be interested in having a crack at hosting either the 2023 or 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals. Rwanda will further be emboldened by the fact that the Afcon and Chan finals are cut out of the same cloth.
You need four stadiums for match days and another eight for training at both tournaments. The infrastructural and service demands are also more or less the same, with 16 countries apiece involved.

While Rwanda’s strong organisational showing has catapulted it to a pivotal role, there has also been some undeniable success on the pitch. Jonathan McKinstry has infused Rwanda’s national team, the Amavubi, alive with unprecedented value. The team did itself a lot of justice by reaching the last eight of the 16-nation tournament.
The stock of players like Jean Claude Iranzi and Ernest Sugira rose inexorably as McKinstry got his tactics right. Things can only get better for McKinstry’s young team.

Rwanda of course exited the tournament after falling 2-1 in extra-time at the hands of DR Congo. There was no shame in that. Congo have been the form team in the tournament. The Leopards have capitalised on the infectiousness of their fans as well as the proximity of their country to Rwanda to script a howling tale. At no one point have their fans tried to be emotionally nuanced. Koffi Olomide’s Ekotite has become something of an anthem for the thousands of Leopards fans here.

Wing forward playmakers like Cameroon’s Emane Atouba and Tunisia’s Saad Bguir have been particularly striking in this tournament. The two, however, didn’t scale the heights that the DR Congo pair of Heritier Luvumbu and Elia Meschack have enjoyed.

Unfortunately, Luvumbu, whose ball carrying skills and trickery have been a beauty to behold, picked up an injury in the quarterfinal win over Rwanda.

At the time of writing this, his chances of playing in today’s final hang by a thread. What a shame!
Lest we forget, this has also been a sublime tournament for African coaches. Two of them will contest today’s final in Stade Amahoro.

DR Congo’s Florent Ibenge has been the poster figure for African coaches since he led his native country to a third-place finish at the 2015 Afcon finals.

His team’s nice blend of good technique and physical strength has left him at the threshold of landing a first major title.
Ibenge, however, faces a tough competitor in Djibril Drame. The Malian native rode the wave of extreme endurance as well as a never-say-die attitude to reach the final. Drame also has undoubted class in his team in the shape of Abdoulaye Diarra, Sekou Koita, Mamadou Coulibaly and N’Guessan Kouame.
All this speaks to the fact that a fascinating final beckons.