After two losses in the opening games against Uganda and hosts Egypt at the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group A encounter, Democratic Republic of Congo looked down and out.
But through the experience of their coach Florent Ibenge they came back to the tournament on Sunday night and are still alive until on Tuesday evening at least and things could still improve.
DR Congo humiliated Zimbabwe 4-0 in Group A’s final game played at the 30 June stadium in Cairo last night and could sneak into the second round as one of the four third best placed finishers.
Ibenge looks back at this dramatic turn of events.
Chinese-based attacker and one of the key players in the Leopards squad, Cedric Bakambu deservedly took home the Man of the Match award on Sunday night after scoring a brace.
They came to this game having failed to score a goal in the tournament and were sitting on minus four, but Bakambu says they soon realised that they stood a chance to improve their situation.
History was also made in this game when Britt Assombalonga, a son to former Zaire (now DRC) international Fedor Assombalonga, scored his first international goal in this game.
Filled with emotions, Fedor retired to his seat on the stands and shed tears of joy after his 26-year-old son and Middlesbrough striker scored in this game.
Big game – big score. #LesLeopards gave us a massive performance!
Highlights from #ZIMCOD are in ⬇️#TotalAFCON2019 #FootballTogether pic.twitter.com/645pwND8vW
— CAF (@CAF_Online) June 30, 2019
– Report by Velile Mnyandu
