United by football - DRC faces Congo Brazzavile in quarter-finals

Democratic Republic of Congo trainer Florent Ibenge told journalists on Monday evening that he wasn’t “concerned” that his team is yet to win a game at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Leopards secured passage into the quarter-finals in interesting fashion; two come-from-behind 1-1 draws against Zambia and Tunisia and a barren stalemate against the Cape Verde Islands in Group B.

“Listen, don’t quite blame my players, blame the high standards of play here. How many drawn matches have we all seen in this tournament? So I’m not quite concerned about this (winning) neither am I obsessed by it.

“The required result is what enables you to advance,” the trainer told a packed press conference following his team’s stalemate against Tunisia.

More than half of the 20 games contested in this competition until this stage have ended in draws.

The Leopards however had to be at their very best to come out with something from the final group game against the North Africans at the Estadio de Bata, with custodian Robert Kidiaba forced to come up with several saves to stop the potent Carthage Eagles strike force comprising Ahmed Akaichi, Hamdza Younes and Wahbi Kaziri.

LOW TURNOUT

Having been on the back-foot and been forced to contain the nimble footed Tunisians for most spells of the tie, the Central African turned the contest around by converting one of the three chances that came their way during the 90-minute spell to the delight of Ibenge.

This contest was, in the meantime, characterised by a low turnout considering the “normally” high standards in this competition, a situation attributed by a lack of interest within a majority of thousands of West African supporters in town. .

A slight drizzle at the match venue just after kick-off failed to dampen the spirits of the players and estimated 5000 fans in attendance at the 36,000-seater facility located some 5km outside the CBD, but the atmosphere here, was by any stretch of imagination, nothing compared to the previous matches at the same venue involving the home team, with several empty seats spotted even at the main dias and the media centre.

INTERESTING SCENARIO

DRC will now face another central African side, Claude Le Roy’s Congo Brazzavile, in the quarter-finals in Bata on Saturday.

These two central African sides will be proud of their achievements so far, having managed to advance to the last stage of this competition that has widely been dominated by North and West Africans.

In the meantime, an interesting qualification scenario is in the offing in Group D this evening,  with the possibility of all the four teams - COte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali and Guinea -  concluding their group matches with an equal number of points, goal scored, conceded and difference.

This scenario will hence require a special sitting of the tournament organisers to determine the two teams that will progress.

“In such an unlikely scenario where all the numbers in the pool are the same, the organising committee will sit to decide on which factors to separate the teams including fair play, or even the toss of a coin,” Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye, who is part of this competition’s organising committee, told Daily Nation Sport.