Black Stars to justify
favourites tag against
troubled Leopards The World Cup quarter-
finalists will open their 2013
Africa Cup of Nations
campaign against their
Congolese foes in Port
Elizabeth as they seek to end a 31-year trophy
drought.
The Black Stars have a very good
head-to-head record against the
Leopards, having recorded eight
wins in the 14 times both
countries have locked horns. The
Simbas have also won four with the remaining two ending in a
draw. Meetings between both countries
have been far and few in terms
of the Africa Cup of Nations, with
the last encounter in February
1998 in Burkina Faso, where the
likes of Tondelua aided the Congolese to pip the Ghanaians by
a goal to nil, effectively ending
their hopes of progressing from
the group stage. On paper Ghana look much
stronger despite the introduction
of so many debutants, but in the
wily Frenchman Claude Le Roy,
who has seen it all on the African
continent, DR Congo have a tactical brain who can turn things
around on any day. The two last met in a 2006 World
Cup qualifier where both games
ended in draws and Le Roy knows
the Ghana team too well having
handled them to third position in
the 2008 Afcon. DR Congo's strength lies in their
attack where they have the
deadly Dieumerci Mbokani of
Belgian giants Anderlecht. Also,
the team boasts of as many as
seven players from former African champions TP Mazembe. Conversely, Ghana are a very
determined and resilient young
side who have proven time and
again that they can live up to
expectation, especially when the
going gets tough and they did just that by coming back from
2-0 down to beat Tunisia 4-2 in
the final trial game before the
tournament. Ghana have suffered a few
injuries during pre-tournament
camping, but team doctors have
assured all four affected players
will gain full fitness by Sunday. DID YOU KNOW? West Brom's midfielder
Youssouf Mulumbu, whose
surname means Heart of a
Leopard or Man Beast, retired
prematurely from theDR Congo national team 16 months ago, but withdrew
the decision late last year
upon the intervention of
President Joseph Kabila. Coach Claude Le Roy resigned
on the eve of the 2013
Nations Cup in South Africa
due to lack of commitment on
the part of the Federation,
but changed his mind after assurances from officials. Asamoah Gyan is the only
survivor of theGhana Black Stars team which drew 1-1
with DR Congo in Kinshasa
eight years ago. It was Le Roy who invited
Juventus midfielder Kwadwo
Asamoah and defender Isaac
Vorsah to the Black Stars. Ghana, whose coach Kwesi
Appiah is going into this
tournament for the first time
as a head coach, have not
lost in their last five games
with DR Congo.