The 23 Man Squad :

I. Goalkeepers : Kidiaba Robert (Mazembe), Nkudimbana Nicaise (Beveren) et Parfait Mandanda (Bordeaux) .

Defenders : Samy Joël (Nancy), Bokese Gladys (DCMP), Dikaba Rodrigue (Beauvais), Ilunga Hérita (Toulouse) et Zakuani Gabriel (Fulham) .

Milieux : Kossi Saka (Karl Zeis), Mulumbu Youssouf (Amiens), Ngoyi Grandi (PSG), Mabiala Larrys (PSG), Mongungu Cédric (Monaco), Tshiolola Tshinyama (Lokeren), Bapupa Cédric (Gefle), Mbayo Kibemba (Lokeren) et Matumona Zola (Brussels) .

Attaquants : Nonda Shabani (Galatasaray), Lofo Bongeli (V club), Lelo Mbelo Blaise (Al Hilal), Lualua Trésor (Al Arabi), Mbokani Dieumerci (Standard Liège), Mputu Mabi Trésor (Mazembe)

The two sides were scoreless going into the break before Togo took the lead two minutes after the break from the penalty spot through striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

DR Congo leveled two minutes later through their Wolfsburg midfielder Cedric Makiadi.

Striker Lomana Lualua of Al-Arabi in Qatar scored DR Congo’s winner in the 68th minute with a superd free-kick to hand the two-time African champions the win in this warm-up match.

Under French coach Patrice Neveu, Congo DR have now racked up six points in three games and are favourites to qualify for the next stage, particularly after pushing Egypt close in their opening game in Cairo, where they narrowly lost 2-1. The return fixture is scheduled for 7 September in Kinshasa and promises to be a thrilling affair .

The Leopards wasted no time at the El-Hadj Hassan Gouled stadium in Djibouti, racing into a 3-0 lead at the break thanks to goals from Dieumerci Mbokani on 25 minutes, Shabani Nonda on 31 and Zola Matumona on 40.

The second half began as the first had finished with Mbokani on 48 minutes and Matumona on 49 bringing their personal haul to two apiece and putting the result beyond doubt. Tresor Mputu then rounded off the scoring in the 79th minute to make it 6-0.

Djibouti’s results thus far in the campaign reflect thier status as the lowest ranked African team in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, with coach Mohamed Abar’s men having lost all three matches and already conceded 18 goals.

This was to mark “La Generation Marbela” ’s first official Since the African cup of nations, Egypt didn’t play any game except against Argentina in Cairo stadium. The Pharaohs got back to action on Sunday night as they faced the strongest side in the group in a tough home encounter.

The Congolese took the lead on the stroke of half time by a nicely worked free kick converted by Herita Ilunga.
In The second half the Leopards were denied a goal as it was ruled offside, althought replays show the inexistence of the offside.

With 20 minute remaining in the game, the Congolese defence showed signs of fatigue and they were punished first by Amir Zaki with a beautifuly taken volley. The Congolese showed panic and conceded another goal with 10 min remaining.

Rendez vous this sunday at Stade des Martyr as the Leopards will take on Malawi

Turkey-based striker Shabani Nonda and Lomana Lualua of Olympiakos are amongst the top stars on the list.

Another big-shot is Tresor Mabi Mputu who currently plays for TP Mazembe and was linked with Premiership giants Arsenal last year.

The DR Congo side will begin their training camp in France on Thursday, where they are likely to play friendly games against some local clubs in Paris.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Nicaise Kudimbana Mulopo (Union St. Gilles/Belgium), Parfait Mandanda (Bordeaux/France), Robert Kidiaba Muteba (Mazembe).

Defenders: Rodrigue Dikaba (Beauvais/France), Andre-Joel Sami (Amiens/France), Larrys Mabiala (PSG/France), Hérita Ilunga N’Kongolo (Toulouse/France), Kosi Saka (Karl Zeis Iena/Allemagne), Cedrid Mongungu (Monaco/France), Christophe Oualembo (Levante/Espagne), Gladys Bokese (DCMP).

Midfielders: Yannick Ngabu Bapupa (Gefle/Sweden), Tshiolola Tshinyama (Lokeren/Belgium), Pitshou Matumona; Zola Rumm; (Brussels/Belgium), Marcel Mbayo Kibemba (Lockeren/Belgium), Cedric Makiadi Mapuata (Wolfsburg/Germany), Youssouf Mulumbu Ngangu (Amiens/France).

Strikers: Christopher Nonda Shabani (Galatasaray/Turkey), Tresor Lomana Lualua (Olympiakos/Greece), Dieumerci Mbokani Bezua (Standard/Belgium), Tresor Kandol (Leeds/England), Yannick Yenga (Dijon/France), Tresor Mputu Mabi (Mazembe), Serge Lofo Bongeli Senge (V.Club), Patou Kabangu Mulota (Mazembe).

Although Neveu has scarcely had a minute to himself since touching down there two months ago, he found time to talk to FIFA.com about the continent’s qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa ^™ which get underway this weekend.

“I’ve not exactly been slacking these last few weeks… I needed to spend a fair bit of time in the country in order to get my bearings and be able to work under optimum conditions there. It gave me a chance to assess the potential of the clubs and watch some of the local players. I paid particular attention to Mazembe’s African Champions League campaign (Congo DR’s only representative in the group phases), and now I’m even more convinced that we’ve got the elements needed to produce a quality side.”

In conversation, the steely determination of this friend of Philippe Troussier is immeadiately apparent. “Every country has its own culture and I needed to soak up the prevailing atmosphere here. The DRC is in a restructuring phase and football should make a useful contribution to this process. The potential is enormous, and it’s up to me to make it blossom.”

Neveu has therefore been quick to run the rule over his Leopards. From a friendly match against France (0-0), to the qualifying games for the 2009 African Nations Championship (open only to local players), by way of encounters with Gabon (0-0) and Algeria (1-1), the new coach has seen everything, warts and all.

“These matches have enabled me to form a fairly precise view of the options available to me and to draw up by initial list. Some people are saying that I’ve left out established first-teamers, but I’m determined to make all my own choices. It’s important to impose my own mark, because if I start off hesitantly, I risk being swamped.”

‘Extremely tricky game’
To further complicate matters, his introduction could scarcely be much tougher. On Sunday 1 June in Cairo, Congo DR kick off their campaign in Group 12 of the second round of qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup against two-time African champions Egypt. “It’s an extremely tricky game for us, as my team’s not really gelled together yet, so I’m expecting to have to suffer a bit.”

In fact, that is pretty much Neveu’s general feeling about this qualification phase. “The most complicated task will be to get through this round. While we should be able to get the better of Djibouti, Malawi could cause us problems. On paper at least, we should be in line for a place in the top two, but we need to stay fully focused so we don’t drop any points unexpectedly en route.”

With players like Shabani Nonda (Galatasaray, Turkey), Tresor Lualua (Olympiakos, Greece), and Tresor Mputu (TP Mazembe Englebert, top scorer in the last CAF Champions League), the Congolese side boasts impressive attacking potential. “It’s the foundation of my squad and, in the end, I basically concentrated on looking for a solid structure to support this firepower. It’s all about finding the right balance.”

Although satisfied with the quality of his squad, Neveu admits to feeling a degree of pressure. “My chief enemy is time, as it’s not easy to put everything together quickly. But I know I will only be judged on results.” On this point, however, he is nothing if not bullish and concludes the interview by saying: “If we manage to get through this round, I’m sure we’ll qualify for CAN 2010. Give me a year and we’ll have a very strong side which will have a say in the battle for World Cup qualification.”

There’s also a pirate site at myp2p that says they’ll be showing it as a MediaPlayer stream, so you can give that a try as well if necessary. Last I checked it was showing tennis in slow, choppy motion, but we can hope that changes as well.

I’ll be hanging around this site as I’m watching the game (crossing my fingers that I can see it), so feel free to stop by and leave comments.

The Leopards of Congo have been drawn in an “okay” looking group. Although this is only the second round where the first and 8 best second place will form 5 groups where the group winners will qualify for the World Cup.

Personally i feel satisfied with the draw, I feel that if our federation can buckle up and get serious, then we should easily qualify for the 3rd round.

What needs to change now is first of all we need a new coach NOW!!! we can’t wait until February to get a new manager. The next thing that will need to change will be the fact that we need a proper national pool with 30 players in it and from those players you can choose your 22 squad before every game or so.

We have the players to go all the way to South Africa, so we should really all come up together and see our far we can go.

 ”We’ve received an invitation from Arsenal for Mputu,” the Mazembe official was quoted as saying in the News of the World.
“Talks began a long time ago but we didn’t want to say anything before an agreement was reached.
“We ruled out a number of clubs before choosing Arsenal.”
Mazembe have previously rejected offers for the 22-year-old forward from the likes of Standard Liege, Esperance of Tunis and Mamelodi Sundowns of Pretoria.
Mputu hit nine CAF Champions League goals in only four games this term, which makes him top scorer despite Mazembe’s early exit.
The Congolese goal machine also went on to lead the goal scoring charts in the Confederation Cup, bagging ten goals in Africa’s second top club competition.

Stay in touch with us for all the updates and news to do with the Congolese National team