DR Congo head coach Sébastien Desabre says he wasn’t surprised to see their fans turn out in their number against Bafana Bafana at Orlando Stadium.
There were some surprising scenes on Tuesday afternoon when the Congolese supporters outnumbered the locals in Orlando.
Bafana head coach Hugo Broos lamented the scenes and said he hoped attendance for the national team improves, while SAFA CEO Lydia Monyapao stated fans were “mobilised”.
However, the Frenchman feels it was simply a chance for many of them to see some of their heroes for the first time.
“No… we know our fans, we know them, we have stars in my team, players in Europe and these fans will maybe have seen them for the first time, Mbemba, Bakumbu and Kakuta, in general, our job is first to make them happy,” he said about their fans.
“And we know with qualification of AFCON [for the first time since 2019], the last one we weren’t at AFCON and I think it’s the most important thing, to give the dreams and pride to the fans.”
DR Congo and South Africa now wait for next month to learn their fate in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations draw with both sides seeded in Pot 2 due to the latest FIFA rankings.
