From our special correspondent in Abidjan – After their convincing victory in the quarter-finals against Guinea (3-1), DR Congo is starting to believe in the final coronation. France 24 collected the reactions of the Leopards in the mixed zone after the match, when the players spoke to journalists.
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Few would have bet it at the start, but DR Congo is in the semi-finals of CAN 2024. After four draws, the Leopards won their first victory against Guinea in the quarter-finals (3-0) and have now with a well-opened appetite.
The architect of this success, coach Sébastien Desabre, remained humble as usual after this success. But his smirk said it all: “We are very happy, very proud because we got the victory we deserved at the right time. The most important thing is to continue on our way. was easy.” “I am very proud of my players and very happy to make the Congolese proud,” he declared to journalists.
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“Putting Congo back in its place as a great football nation”
What a long way he has come since he took over the team in the summer of 2022! The DR Congo had just lost its first two qualifying matches for this African Cup, against Gabon (0-1) at home, and in Sudan (2-1). A year and a half later, Sébastien Desabre’s Leopards are in the last four.
“In his first speeches, the coach talked about putting Congo back in its place as a great football nation,” explains goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi. “With determination, concentration and rigor, we are getting there little by little. It shows that we are progressing from match to match.”
“We will go all the way”
After today’s success, some of its partners are already seeing themselves further afield. “We had goals that we kept for ourselves. We wanted to go as far as possible. Today, we arrived, we are in the semi-finals. We will continue to dream to go to the end”, savors midfielder Joris Kayembe.
Gaël Kakuta, the injured playmaker from the DR Congo announces the color: “We are here for that (to win the CAN, NLDR). Today, we fought to win and we will continue to fight until at the end.”
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“We’re in an international competition. We’re going to go all the way and that’s the mentality we need to have,” says Dylan Batubinsika, the center back who plays for AS Saint-Étienne. “Obviously, now we aim to go to the end. We think we are capable of great things again in this CAN and we are sure of ourselves, of our potential”
And the coach himself let himself be caught up in this momentum – in moderation – at a press conference: “It would be stupid not to believe in the final coronation, but it’s not easy. We still have to make a good semi-final match, then we’ll see what happens next.”