The head coach of the DR Congo, Sebastian Desabre has revealed he is disappointed about failing to beat South Africa to claim bronze from Saturday’s third-place playoffs game at the Felix Hougphet Boigney stadium in Abidjan, but satisfied about his team’s overall performance over the course of a month during the 34th edition of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Côte D’Ivoire 2023.
The French coach watched his side miss countless opportunities in a draining semi-finals losers match which the Bafana Bafana eventually won by 6-5 on another post-match penalties session in which Ronwen Williams made the difference, this time around with two saves after six penalties apiece.
Reacting during the traditional post-match press conference, Desabre couldn’t hide his mixed emotions.
“Yes this third place playoffs was important because we wanted to finish this competition well. We are a bit disappointed, but it doesn’t affect the beautiful competition we had. We are fourth because we couldn’t capitalise on our chances during 90 minutes. Penalties have an element of luck. We won against Egypt and lost today,” the disappointed Frenchman explained.
Desabre proceeded to discuss what made his team express themselves better before rueing their misses on a day he rang the changes in his starting XI.
“During the first 15 minutes we change our system. We also had chances in the first half. We decided to have three at the back and had spaces in the flanks. In football we can’t have all the chances and fail to convert them. It’s unacceptable.”
Desabre then showered praises on the Bafana Bafana and the part captain Williams played to ensure they get the results and South Africa’s second AFCON bronze medal.
“Games are not the same. Dynamics are not the same. South Africa had a system that goes through the goalkeeper. Maybe that put us in a better position than the semi-final. What we have done will help us in future. We have this momentum and willingness to attack. We know what we are doing. The combinations in our game are there but we need to be clinical.
“Yes that’s exactly it. We played new players and changed systems today. We are lacking in the aspect of scoring goals which is an area we need to improve. We had a good tournament. If we didn’t win this tournament it means we have few aspects to correct. For a coach, these are high level games. To have this control of a game is a positive thing.”
“We would have been worried if we didn’t create chances. The boys game there 100%. There is quality in the squad. With this and fighting spirit, we can get things done. We had a beautiful AFCON with a Federation that is having an overhaul and a new league starting.”
“This was a decision we made. We are not here to please people or players. We had ideas that we had planned. We wanted to test some players. Some are injured. We have a depth of the squad. We are not changing the quality of the team even though we changed some players.
“Yes it goes without saying you see our games. We are solid in defence and didn’t give our opponents chances. We need to improve on the attack. It is our job to improve in those areas. We are going to work on that in training. When I look at the three strikers I have, they work hard during training. Unfortunately we were unable to perform in that department. We are fourth in a competition that started with 24. If we had converted our chances we could have finished higher.
“What is important to us is if our tournament has helped the Federation to develop youth football. If you did that, I think it is okay.
Desabre was also quizzed about his future in the Leopards dugout and he didn’t mince words.
“I have a contract with the DRC football association and I will uphold that contract unless they ask me to leave. We are going to take stock of what happened. Obviously there is going to be more positives than negative. That’s not necessarily the question on the table,” he added.
The two-time AFCON winners will return home and reflect on what would have been before returning competition football in June when the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers get underway, certainly with their target being qualification for the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
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