7 February 2011
Defending champions DR Congo suffered an opening game loss at the 2011 African Nations Championship as they went down 2-0 to Cameroon in Group C on Sunday.
In the pool’s other match, Cote d’Ivoire beat Mali 1-0 to move into second after the first round of matches.
Joseph Mamosso and Ousmaila Baba netted for Cameroon against the Congolese, who have gone into the tournament as favourites to retain their title given the number of TP Mazembe players within their ranks.
Indeed, their were seven players from the African champions in the DR Congo line-up goalkeeper Muteba Kidiaba, Mihayo Kazembe, Kabangu Mulota, Bedi Mbenza, Joel Kimwaki, Kasusula Kiritsho and Alain Kaluyituka Dioko, but the Cameroonians proved too strong.
DR Congo coach Santos Muntubile says his side will have to show a vast improvement if they are to reach the knockout stages of the competition.
I dont know what went wrong with my team today, Muntubile says. Their performance was unlike of them allowing the Cameroonians to dominate. I will have to sit down with my players to diagnose the problem ahead of the next games.
We were simply bad. In football, the results matter most. I have coached TP Mazembe before and the number of matches is not a problem at all. Football is very unpredictable, but I believe my players will deliver in the next game. This is not a promise, as we will work towards that.
In the day’s other match, Kone Zoumana scored the only goal of the game as the Ivorians defeated Mali.
Cote d’Ivoire hosted the inaugural CHAN in 2009, but had a horror tournament, finishing bottom of their pool. They have got off to a positive start this time round and will look to push on in their next encounter against DR Congo on Thursday.
