2015 AFCON Qualifier: S’Eagles Must Be Wary Of Congo

Congo may have only
been reinstated to the qualifiers for the 2015 AFCON, but the Super Ealges of  Nigeria will do well to take them seriously  tomorrow.
The Red Devils were reinstated to the competition after Rwanda fielded an ineligible player against them in the previous round of the qualifying series.
But tomorrow’s  match against African champions Nigeria comes at a time when football in Congo is enjoying a revival of sorts.
The country’s top club AC Leopards are through to the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup after they won the competition two years ago.
Also, only last weekend the country’s U20 team eliminated defending champions Egypt to qualify for the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal.
Young striker Kader Bidimbou, who featured at last year’s African U17 Championship in Morocco, netted a brace against Egypt in the first leg and will be one of those the Eagles have to keep a special watch on.
He has also fired five goals in the last two matches in Congolese champions AC Leopards fine run in the Confederation Cup.
The two teams have met nine times with Nigeria winning on five occasions, Congo have won once and there have been three draws between them.
The last meeting between the teams was a group game of the Nations Cup in 2000, which Nigeria co-hosted with Ghana.
Congo held the Eagles to a barren draw, while the Red Devils only win was achieved in 1970, when they beat Nigeria 2-1 in a 1972 AFCON qualifier in Brazzaville.
Despite the fears over the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, Nigeria foreign stars have responded well for this match with only goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and Chinedu Obasi out of the encounter.
Enyeama has to attend to a pressing family problem, while Obasi has been held back at his German base by a bureaucratic hiccup.
Experienced coach Claude Le Roy has expressed fears over the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria and even asked for the match to be moved away from Nigeria.
Nosa Igiebor, who has also returned to Israel after a tough time at La Liga club Real Betis, said the Eagles will beat the Red Devils so as to shut them up.
“They have been talking too much. We will go out there to fight for Nigeria, beat them so as to shut them up,” said the midfielder.
The visitors will be missing Jordan Massengo and skipper Delvin Ndinga.
Massengo’s Belgian second division club Mons refused to release him, arguing they received the player’s call-up past the deadline (as Congo were waiting for CAF’s Rwanda appeal decision).
Delvin Ndinga, on the other hand, picked up a knock while featuring for Greek champions Olympiacos in a league game against Panaitolikos.

Red Devils of Congo hit man, Kader Bidimbou