DR Congo national team coach Christian Nsengi-Biembe is confident that the Leopards have the necessary qualities to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 50 years.
DR Congo has ever only managed one appearance at the World Cup finals which was in 1974 and has failed in their attempts to make a second appearance at the World Stage.
Qatar 2022 might just be the country’s best opportunity to end the failure they’ve encountered in their attempts to qualify for the global showpiece considering the quality of talents at their disposal.
Coach Nsienge-Biembe concedes that a qualification to the World cup will not be an easy task but is adamant that his team is capable of achieving it.
“Every time we start a qualification campaign, we aim to reach the World Cup,” he told FIFA.com.
“That was the case before me, and it’ll be the same after me. We’re ranked among the top ten teams in Africa, so it’s only natural that we aspire to World Cup participation. Given our current squad, Qatar 2022 must be our goal.”
The Leopards coach added, “We have some information and data on our opponents, particularly Benin and Tanzania. As for Madagascar, I assessed them at the AFCON finals when I was our technical manager.
“We’ll need to be at our best against our opponents, as they’ll be motivated by the fact that we’re among the top ten in Africa. There are no easy opponents anymore. We need to work hard to finish top of the group.”
“We’ll respect all our opponents,” he explained. “It not won’t be a revenge exercise. Revenge isn’t what will motivate my team.
The coach asserts that their world cup qualifier match against Madagascar will not be about revenge.
“What I remember about that game is that it ended 2-2 and we lost in a penalty shootout. We learned a lot more about them in that game, and they’re certainly a strong and disciplined side.”
