African Cup of Nations Group B Preview: DR Congo

The country formerly known as Zaire have won the African Cup of Nations twice before, once in 1968 and then again in 1974. Since then though they haven’t reached anywhere near the same success, the closest being the third placed playoff in 1998.

They have reached the World Cup once, in 1974, incidentally when they were doing well in the African Nations. However, they lost all three games badly. In the 3-0 defeat to Brazil one of the most infamous ‘stupid-moments’ in World Cup history can be seen below.

How Did They Qualify?

In the first round they took on the minnows of the Seychelles and beat them 7-0 on aggregate. In the second round, they had a slightly more difficult task against Equatorial Guinea but moved past them with ease winning 5-2 over two legs, Dieumerci Mbokani scoring three goals over the course of the tie.

Manager

Claude Le Roy has had an interesting career in the beautiful game since hanging up his boots. His jobs include being a Football Advisor at AC Milan to being the Cameroon manager (twice).

In 2004, he took over as manager of Cambridge United, although he says that it was only a ‘moral contract’ and that he was only helping his protégé Herve Renard, who won the last African Nations as Zambia boss.

Le Roy has tons of experience and pedigree at international level, having managed Cameroon, Oman, Malaysia, Senegal, Ghana and Syria. In 2011 he took over as DR Congo manager for the second time.

Star Men

Youssouf Mulumbu – Since moving to West Brom from PSG, Mulumbu has become an integral part of the team, securing a spot in their central midfield. His all action displays are part of the reason the Baggies find themselves in a lofty position in the league.

Cédric Makiadi – Born in his homeland, he moved to Germany with his family at a young age. Back in 2006 he rejected a call up for DR Congo before accepting the offer to play for them in 2007. Since then, Makiadi has gone on to make 14 appearances and is a regular for SC Freiburg.

Trésor Mputu – The most prolific striker in the squad, Mputu led his club TP Mazembe to consecutive African Champions League titles a few years ago and his Wikipedia page (or the Born Offside Research Bible) claims that he is currently linked with a move to either Celtic or Leeds United.

How Far Can They Go?

In a group containing Mali and Ghana DR Congo have a tricky time ahead. Niger makes up the group numbers and in Le Roy, the team has a manager who knows African football inside out. If they can maneuver their way through the group stages, then they may have the quality to ‘do a Zambia’ however it would be unlikely.