rumba in the stands and realism on the ground, the Congolese teach the Guineans a lesson

Friday evening, the Democratic Republic of Congo qualified for the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations by dominating Guinea (3-1) in sultry Abidjan.

Thirty-six or even 37 degrees according to the thermometers during the day, Friday February 2 in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), barely less at 9 p.m. at the time of kick-off, the quarter-final of the CAN 2024 between the DRC and Guinea will have been very hot, literally and figuratively, in fact. Because on the field, even between French speakers, the two teams did not spare each other. But after all, how could it have been otherwise. In football, it is well known, the more we know each other, the more we get into each other and the 35 000 spectators present at the Alassane-Ouattara stadium witnessed a tough and contested match, tense and full of pride.

With seven Congolese players playing in France and eight in the Guinean camp, this meeting had the air of a cousin, but the actors sang a completely different song. The stands, largely supportive of the Guinean cause, began by rejoicing at Mohamed Bayo’s opening score from the penalty spot in the 20th minute of play. Already scorer of the winning goal in the round of 16, Le Havre did not will not have danced for long, however, since Chancel Mbemba, like a good captain, equalized in the 27th minute for the DR Congo.

Win, like in 1974

A goal everywhere at half-time, the lesson in rumba… and realism for the Congolese could begin. First in the stands, where the Leopards supporters did not stop singing, in a sort of trance, as beautiful and collective as it was harmless. And on the pitch obviously, where the players coached by Frenchman Sébastien Desabre scored twice on their only two shots on target in the second half, in the 65th and 82nd minutes, by Yoan Wissa on a penalty and Arthur Masuaku on a free kick.

Rumba and realism, it was the winning cocktail for the DRC which will see the semi-finals of this CAN. Facing her, next Wednesday in Abidjan, the winner of Mali-Côte d’Ivoire which will be played late Saturday afternoon in Bouaké. The task promises to be perhaps even more difficult for the Congolese, but in a competition which has already seen many favorites picked up, the Leopards have some good outsider faces. African champions twice, in 1968 and 1974, the Congolese can still hope to reconnect with their glorious past.