adminFrom Makomborero Mutimukulu in MALABO, Equatorial Guinea
THE Democratic Republic of Congo Class of 2015 played themselves into their country’s football folklore when they battled from two goals down to dispatch the ultimate enemy, neighbours Congo (Brazzaville), 4-2 in front of a captivated continent.The DRC’s sensational win in an African Cup of Nations quarter-final at the weekend transformed a side that left Kinshasa with little expectations into legends.
They will, forever, be remembered as the men who showed guts when everything pointed at them exiting Africa’s premier football competition at the hands of a team they hate losing to the most.
However, that gallant effort will pale into insignificance if compared to the all-hands-on-the-pump approach the country needs to knock the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire of their stride.
Interestingly, the two teams were in the same qualifying group and the Congolese famously went to Abidjan and beat the Elephants in one of the results of those battles for a place in Equatorial Guinea.
But the Elephants, the 1992 champions, have found their rhythm at just the right time and a defeat to DRC in tonight’s semi-final at Estadio de Bata is not being imagined by the Yaya Toure-led Golden Generation.
The match kicks off at 9pm Zimbabwean time.
Back-to-back victories over Cameroon, in the last group match, and a 3-1 humbling of Algeria in the quarter-finals, have triggered talk of a second Afcon gong.
In Frenchman Herve Renard, Cote d‘Ivoire have a gaffer who has cut egos to size and demands “much more than 100 percent effort” from his star-studded side.
The odds are heavily stuck against a DRC outfit that only made it to Afcon 2015 by virtue of being the best third placed team in a qualification campaign that saw the Zimbabwean Warriors hit a new low with that preliminary round defeat to Tanzania.
“Yes they are the favourites but that is no guarantee that they will beat us,” concedes DRC forward Dieumerci Mbokani, who claimed a brace in the come from behind 4-2 win over Congo.
“Very few people expected us to be in the semi-finals but here we are. This team is full of experienced players, we know what it takes to win big games of this nature and we are confident in our abilities.
“There is never an easy game but we are ready for the fight of our lives.”
DRC draw most of their squad from former continental club champions TP Mazembe.
For Renard, the clash against the DRC is a potential banana skin that needs to be approached with caution.
The charismatic mentor, who led an average Zambian side to glory in 2012, reckons his team can win the tourney if they don’t drop their guard.
Renard also tips big centre forward Wilfred Bony, whom he describes as Didier Drogba’s heir, to kick on after scoring his first and second Afcon goals in the defeat of Algeria.
“I must say this team is blessed because soon after Didier we have another big centre forward who is among the leading goal scorers in the English Premiership.
“He showed his class against Algeria and we all hope he continues with that kind of form,” he said of the new Manchester City man.
The return of Gervinho, who added a late third against the Desert Foxes, has given the Ivoirians pace and a direct approach that Renard believes is key to winning games.
While questions have been asked about the fluctuating performances of the younger Toure there are no such worries about the older one who is doing business with aplomb at his swansong Afcon tournament.
Kolo Toure, who has said he will retire from international football at the end of the tourney, has been solid in a Cote d’Ivoire rearguard that has the inform Guelassiognon Sylvain Gbohouo as its last line of defence.
The Liverpool defender, who is playing with a bandaged arm, looks determined to exit the big stage on a high.
“Yes the thought of retiring as a champion crosses my mind but I have to take it one step at a time.
We have a semi-final to play, let’s see how that goes,” said the defender who turns 34 next month.
Online Reporter