AFCON: Ghana Play DR Congo, Egypt Face Morocco

DR Congo are battling to get several players ready in time for their Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final against Ghana today. The latest player on their injury list is Chancel Mbemba, who joined the However, Mbemba did manage to train yesterday. Jordan Ikoko and Gabriel Zakuani are improving slowly, and have a 50% chance of playing. But Birmingham City’s Jacques Maghoma is definitely out.

The Congolese fans have been magnificent in Gabon, creating a presence that has lifted their team, and Ibenge is eager to give them more to happy about.

“Football, music and religion, that’s the Congo,” he said. “We have a population that has gone through difficult times and at the moment football gives them joy. I am happy because the whole country is happy. And this little piece of happiness, you cannot imagine how good it feels.” Ghana are expected to have captain Asamoah Gyan available after fears were eased over the striker’s fitness, following an injury he suffered against Egypt on Wednesday, But the Black Stars’ preparations have been hit by travel delays that mean they arrived in Oyem only on Friday.

Coach Grant is hoping for a more suitable playing surface in Oyem than they had to deal with in Port-Gentil during the group stage. “I hope the pitch is better than there because it was not good for everybody,” Grant said.

The Israeli also sounded a warning to his team not to be complacent. “Two giants, in my opinion, in Ivory Coast and Algeria, are out of the way so it’s a good wake-up call to all the people that think they are a big team and that it’s enough,” Grant said.

“It’s not enough.

You need to prove it on the pitch.”

Meanwhile, Frenchman Herve Renard can take a step closer to winning a third Africa Cup of Nations crown when he leads Morocco into a quarter-final against Egypt in Port-Gentil today. Renard’s side eliminated the Ivory Coast, who he led to the title in 2015, to reach the knockout phase of a Nations Cup for the first time since 2004.

Also the architect of Zambia’s unlikely triumph in 2012, Renard’s aim now is to become the first coach to win the title three times with three different countries.

It would be another triumph against the odds, given the number of key players Morocco lost to injury before jetting off to Gabon, but they displayed their fighting qualities to make it out of their group.

“It is already a privilege to be in the last eight but now we need to be much more ambitious than that,” Renard said. Sometimes the African Cup can be more difficult than this so when you are lucky enough to safely negotiate the group stage against very strong teams you need to seize the opportunity. It would be extraordinary if we could go a lot further.

Morocco’s north African rivals Egypt have been a difficult team to break down under coach Hector Cuper and progressed from their group without conceding a goal.

Hopes are now beginning to rise back home that the Pharaohs can mark their return to the competition after a seven-year absence by winning a record-extending eighth title. “Our ambitions are very high and we are going to fight and give our best in order to keep progressing,” said Cuper.

Egyptian Football Association Hazem El Hawary board member believes Cuper’s methods have revived the team.

“Everybody can watch what he is doing. He teaches the players organisation, he has a system that does not change and the players are getting used to it,” El Hawary said.

“That is why we keep improving. Everybody says now Egypt plays with a system. They are not playing haphazard. Our results in the last one year and a half are super.”

Egypt’s only win in five previous Nations Cup matches against Morocco came in a 1986 semi-final on home soil, but there are practical reasons for them to be confident as they eye a semi in Libreville next Wednesday.

Playing the game in Port-Gentil, where they have been based all along, means they have enjoyed a more relaxed build-up.

Morocco may have had an extra 24 hours to prepare, but they were delayed in leaving the northern town of Oyem on Thursday. When they arrived in Port-Gentil, the Moroccan delegation found that the hotel originally set aside for them was not ready and so they were forced to come up with an alternative solution.