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Congo's,
players celebrates at the end of a soccer match during the African Cup of
Nations Group C soccer match between Congo and Togo at the Stade de
Port-Gentil, Gabon, Tuesday Jan. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
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The curse of the
defending champion struck Côte d'Ivoire at the African Cup of Nations and
Congo's squad put a player strike well behind it to dance into the
quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Associated
Press report continues:
The
titleholder and a team of big stars from European clubs, Côte d'Ivoire didn't
even make it past the group stage in its defense, crashing out without winning
a game.
Côte d'Ivoire needed to beat Morocco in the last round of matches in Group C but lost
1-0 to follow Algeria out of the African championship in Gabon — two big teams
gone in the space of 24 hours.
Instead,
Congo topped the group with a colorful 3-1 win over Togo in Port-Gentil, where
the Congolese players danced in front of their fans for every one of their
goals, and again at fulltime.
Congo
and Morocco went through and their quarterfinal opponents will be decided on
Wednesday on the last day of the group stage. They joined Burkina Faso,
Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, and Ghana in the knockouts. One more
quarterfinalist out of Egypt and Mali will be decided on Wednesday.
Côte
d'Ivoire, with two draws to start its title defense, was completely flat when
it mattered most in Oyem and was outsmarted by Morocco coach Hervé Renard, who
guided the Ivorians to the title two years ago.
Substitute
Rachid Aliou scored Morocco's goal with a curling long-range shot on a
counterattack, deciding a cagey game in which neither team produced an
impressive performance but where Morocco didn't have to make the running.
Aliou's
curler made sure of Côte d'Ivoire's elimination and continued the recent curse
of the champion at the African Cup: In the last five tournaments, the
titleholder has struggled badly, or not even made it to the tournament at all.
Egypt, winner in 2010, didn't qualify in 2012. Zambia went out without winning
a game in 2013. Nigeria didn't qualify in 2015. And now Côte d'Ivoire.
The
most compelling performances in Group C came from Congo, a giant of African
soccer in the late 1960s and early 70s that fell on real hard times. Congo
finished third two years ago, though, and could be a dangerous challenger in
the knockout stages in Gabon, especially with Côte d'Ivoire, Algeria, and the
host team all gone.
Congo's
style of soccer is fast and exciting and team spirit appears to be strong, in
good times and in bad. This tournament began with the players on strike and
refusing to train for two days because of a dispute with officials over bonus
payments. Then, all of the Congo players stood together in protest. On Tuesday,
they all stood together in celebration, lining up on the sideline in front of
their fans to shimmy and shake every time they scored at Stade de Port-Gentil.
Congo
is most likely to play Ghana or Egypt in the quarterfinals, a game in which
they might have been written off a few years ago. Not now.
"We
are going to keep going, you know," Congo midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu
said. "When we started this tournament no one would have bet on us. We're
a surprise. We want to go to the final. It's going to be tough ... but we have
quality players."
Congo
led Togo in Port-Gentil with a first-half goal from Junior Kabananga, who has
scored in every one of Congo's games at the tournament. Ndombe Mubele lobbed
over Togo substitute goalkeeper Cedric Mensah for a 2-0 lead early in the
second half.
Togo,
with only a long shot at qualifying for the quarters, pulled it back to 2-1
through Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba.
Congo
confirmed itself as group winner and a team to watch when Paul-Jose Mpoku
struck a sweet free kick that soared toward the right corner of the goal and
bounced down off the crossbar and over the goal-line.
A few of the Congo players stopped and looked at the linesman to be sure the ball crossed the line, but not Mpoku. He was already heading off to the edge of the field to start the dancing.
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