Kinshasa, March 24th, 2021 (CPA) – The delegation of DRC national football team A left Kinshasa on Wednesday on a special Congo Airways flight to Franceville, Gabon, where they will play their survival in the competition against their counterparts from Gabon, the Panthers, on Thursday on behalf of the 5th day of group D of the qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations (CAN), Cameroon 2021.
The Congolese beasts present in Kinshasa joined forces at N’djili airport with Rajaouis Ben Malang Ngita and Fabrice Ngoma Lwamba, who arrived in the Congolese capital on Wednesday after missing their flight the day before in Morocco.
The roster has not been revealed, but it is believed that manager Christian Nsengi Biembe will need 23 players for the game against Gabon. The other 7 players on the list must in principle wait for 23 to return to the hotel in Kinshasa.
Christian Nsengi Biembe and his protégés are forced to bring the three points of victory back to Kinshasa if they hold on to their presence in Cameroon in January / February 2022 for the final tournament. Third in Group D with 6 points (+1), the Leopards need a victory to position themselves well and claim a qualifying place.
Their opponents, the Panthers, who are second with 7 points (+1) are also in battle order to conquer the three points, knowing full well that they will have to play the match of the 6th and final day against the Palancas Negras of the ‘Angola (1 point (-4) traveling to Luanda, the latter having to meet the Scorpions of Gambia (1st with 7 points, +2), on Thursday in Banjul, during the 5th day.
The four teams in Group D, just like the other African teams, had to deal with the problem of internationals playing for the European championships whose teams received the pass from the International Federation of Football (FIFA) authorizing them to let the players leave. Africans if they wanted. After the general outcry over this decision, some clubs ended up releasing the players to serve under the flag.
Another seven days to wait for the end of qualifying
Qualifications for the next finals of the 33rd African Cup of Nations (CAN) 2021 will come to an end between March 24th and 30th, 2021. These seven days will complete the qualifiers which started in October 2019 and were disrupted by the postponement of CAN in Cameroon and the Covid-19.
And the upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers are pushing behind so that Africa can continue after qualifying for CAN 2021.
Ten places out of 24 in the final phase are still to be taken. For now, only Cameroon (host), Algeria (defending champion), Senegal (CAN 2019 finalist), Mali and Tunisia have already secured their places in the country of Paul Biya.
The African Football Confederation (CAF) can no longer afford the luxury of postponing the end of the CAN qualifiers, as the final phase will take place in January / February 2022. The African selections will continue with the qualifications for the 2022 World Cup in June, September, October and November 2021.
Fortunately for the African national teams, they have an extended period next June allowing them to play in up to four games. This will allow them to play a CAN 2021 match scheduled for March and postponed, after two matches in 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Hereafter the program of the 5th and 6th days: on Wednesday March 24th, 2021: Guinea-Mali, in Conakry [group A], Uganda-Burkina Faso, in Kampala [group B], South Sudan-Malawi, in Omdurman [group B ], Sao Tome and Principe-Sudan, in Sao Tome [group C], Rwanda-Mozambique, in Kigali
[group F]
, Ethiopia-Madagascar, in Bahir Dar [group K]; on Thursday March 25th: South Africa-Ghana, in Johannesburg [group C], Gabon-RD Congo, in Franceville
[group D]
, Gambia-Angola, in Bakau [group D], Kenya-Egypt, in Nairobi [group G] , Comoros-Togo, in Moroni [group G], Zambia – Algeria, in Lusaka [group H], Botswana-Zimbabwe, in Francistown [group H], Libya-Tunisia, in Cairo [group J], Equatorial Guinea-Tanzania, in Malabo [group J]; on Friday March 26th: Mauritania-Morocco, in Nouakchott [group E], Burundi-Central African Republic, in Bujumbura [group E], Cape Verde-Cameroon, in Praia [group F], Congo-Senegal, in Brazzaville [group I] , Eswatini-Guinea-Bissau, in Manzini [group I], Niger-Côte d’Ivoire, in Niamey [group K]; on Saturday March 27th: Benin-Nigeria, in Porto Novo [group L], Lesotho-Sierra Leone, in Maseru [group L]; on Sunday March 28th: Namibia-Guinea, in Windhoek [group A], Sudan-South Africa, in Omdurman [group C], Ghana-Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Coast [group C], Tanzania-Libya, in Dar Es Salaam [group J], Tunisia-Equatorial Guinea, in Tunis [group J]; on Monday March 29th: Malawi-Uganda, in Blantyre [group B], Burkina Faso-South Sudan, in Ouagadougou [group B], Angola-Gabon, in Luanda [group D], DR Congo-Gambia, in Kinshasa [group D ], Togo-Kenya, in Lomé [group G], Egypt-Comoros, in Cairo [group G], Zimbabwe-Zambia, in Harare [group H], Algeria-Botswana, in Blida [group H]; on Tuesday March 30th: Central African Republic-Mauritania, in Bangui [group E], Morocco-Burundi, in Rabat [group E], Mozambique-Cape Verde, in Maputo
[group F]
, Cameroon-Rwanda, in Douala [group F] , Guinea-Bissau-Congo, in Bissau [group I], Senegal-Eswatini, in Thiès [group I], Madagascar-Niger, in Toamasina [group K], Ivory Coast-Ethiopia, in Abidjan [group K], Sierra Leone-Benin, in Freetown [group L], Nigeria-Lesotho, in Lagos [group L]. ACP/Kayu