Sébastien Desabre, “we have put DR Congo in its place in Africa”

Nobody expected DR Congo so high at CAN 2024. And yet, the Leopards reached the last four, losing in the semi-final against Ivory Coast. A performance which marks the revival of the most populous country in French-speaking Africa on the continental football scene and which owes a lot to its coach, Sébastien Desabre.

Arriving in August 2022, the Frenchman has straightened out a sinking DR Congo. Since taking power, Sébastien Desabre has considerably rejuvenated the group. Only three players remain from the Leopards’ last participation in the African Cup of Nations: leaders Cédric Bakambu and Chancel Mbemba, and defender Arthur Masuaku. And the results followed: a close qualification for CAN 2025 and an epic in Ivory Coast which allowed Congolese players to regain the love of their people.

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Despite the disappointment of the defeat in the semi-final, Sébastien Desabre still hopes to bring a bronze medal to his adopted country. And he is already planning for the future: CAN 2025 and the 2026 World Cup, which are his real objectives with the Leopards. Interview a few hours before the “small finale”.

France 24: How do we deal with the disappointment of being eliminated in the semi-final to go back to conquer third place?

Sébastien Desabre : We tried to get rid of the disappointment as quickly as possible, even if it was difficult, because we were at the foot of the last step. But we must remobilize. There is a bronze medal to be won in a very good competition.

Read alsoDR Congo: the Leopards between immense disappointment and desire for a third place at the CAN

We will undoubtedly regenerate the team a little to bring physical and mental freshness, and we will launch into the battle.

What is the outcome of this CAN 2024?

It’s a satisfaction to have reached this stage of the competition. Initially, we were planning more on CAN 2025 because I have only been in charge of the selection for a year and a half.

I was already very happy with the qualification for this CAN. As a coach, this allows you to have more time with the players, to know them better, to implement playing principles over time. We are in our fifth week together. It’s as if we had a year with a national selection since we only have five meetings in a year. There were 20 players at the start who were new to the competition. They have acquired a certain form of experience which will be useful to us for the future.

We have also repositioned the Congo to its fair value on the African stage. Then, there was also a little disenchantment among the public towards the selection. But I think we were able to unite and that will allow me to try things to continue the renewal.

A few days ago, you had this expression: “This is not the CAN of surprises but that of work.” Isn’t it also the “CAN of selectors” when we see the careers of the coaches in the last four?

The coach is the guide, but we have a team and a staff around us. For DR Congo, I have 19 people on my staff. We worked well on the medical and nutritional levels, and we didn’t have many injuries.

The driving force behind everything is the players. We are lucky to have these players who are very professional and very involved. It is a whole !

In this CAN, there were surprises because there were some big guys who fell out of the competition quite quickly. But if they fell, it’s because there were teams who beat them. And if these teams beat them, it’s because they had quality and therefore they worked well. The gap is narrowing, which will push the big teams to be even more efficient.

You are a true connoisseur of African football. You have coached many clubs on the continent and also guided Uganda in 2019 to the AFCON. What does this long experience of the continent bring you?

It’s an alchemy to do. We must make the amalgamation between local players, those who were born in the country and who are pursuing their careers in major European clubs and the dual nationals. It’s the same thing with the staff: some come from Europe, others are local. It’s a work synergy to find. Once you find it, you can go very far.

But it is a balance which remains fragile despite everything because there are external elements which can disrupt everything. In Congo, we are followed a lot by the local press and by fans, and so on. We must master communication, particularly via the media and social networks.

These are aspects that you need to know in Africa because today, it is almost central. For my part, I find that it is too central to the game but you have to know how to manage it. At our level, we have a lot of experience. We made mistakes a lot of times, which allowed us to correct and be better. That’s how we gained experience.

What changes have you implemented?

I am a manager-selector, that is to say I validate all aspects surrounding the selection. We have put in place an organization that allows us to be less disrupted in our daily work.

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From now on, we are a completely professional selection. It took a little while. The objective was to attract two or three players into this system so that they could see the professionalization… And then, the players from the diaspora are all connected. The greatest satisfaction is that now agents or very good players call us directly to express their interest in the selection. A year and a half ago, it was us who were going to approach them.

It should still be remembered that the DR Congo had achieved good results before. They lose in the play-off for the 2022 World Cup against Morocco after finishing first in their group. Congo did not wait for Sébastien Desabre to get results. There was potential with fully involved senior players.

You came to CAN 2024 to find out where you stood, you leave with a place in the last four: what does that change for your roadmap?

It will impact him. We are early. We will slowly take stock and see what we can improve, what it can bring us immediately.

The race to qualify for the 2026 World Cup is crazy. It takes place over two and a half years. We will have a match in June in Senegal and the reception of Togo. This World Cup is a goal but we inherited one of the best teams in Africa, Senegal, in the draw. So we are not favorites. We started well, we had a little hiccup against Sudan. Now it’s ten matches, eight to go. So, we think it’s playable.

But we are also impatiently awaiting the draw for the next CAN. The qualification will be played out between September and November, over a very short period of time.

So the World Cup objective is important in the long term but we will have to prepare to be efficient from September, to be in Morocco and perform.

The videos of the interview will be broadcast in the CAN news